Life ERROR
by GeeDeeny
Summary: A ghost from the past returns to Celia Fleming's life, offering solutions to her problems in return for assistance. Does she take the offer or does she turn it down? OC X Aiden Pearce M rated for various things language/filth/etc.
1. Chapter 1

**A quick one folks! The idea popped in to my head earlier this evening so I figured what the heck, I'll write it down. I really can't wait for Watch Dogs to be released! So of course, this story is obviously not entirely in vein/true to the final story as it hasn't been released yet! But even so, I hope you all enjoy what I've written here at least. I'm taking the line/rumour about the game that Aiden was possibly married before the events of the game. But we'll see how that pans out.**

**So let me know what you think. I'm not giving too much away right now but if I get enough feedback I may continue this and adjust it when appropriate I.E. when the game comes out. So please let me know your thoughts. Also, to the readers of Something Wicked; keep an eye out for the next chapter. I should have it up this week.**

**Fave, Follow, Comment and all that good stuff. Thank you folks! :) –Deeny xxxx**

_**All characters belong to the folks at Ubi, except my OC's. :)**_

* * *

Memories from long ago flashed in his head. The lazy Sundays on the couch watching mindless TV, eating pizza leftover from the night before. The ecstatic look on her face whenever she broke in to a system that tried her skills. The fact that she always brought back a huge amount of Chinese food after her Kickboxing classes and the weekend away in Las Vegas; cleaning the place out after they had hacked several random peoples bank accounts.

Then he remembered that he disappeared, with no warning. He had to get off the grid for a while and told nobody of it. But even so, he still kept an eye on her during his time away. Celia Fleming right now, sat in the club he had just walked in to; looked like she didn't have a care in the world. But he knew her well and knew she had gone through a lot since he left all those years ago. She was listed on several databases as a special target to watch. Shortly after he disappeared; Celica was arrested for several minor hacking offences and assault on a police officer. Her sentence was supposed to be for eighteen months but was reduced to one year on grounds of "good behaviour." The naturally blonde haired now dyed dark brown, English born MIT graduate who was celebrating her thirty fifth birthday this evening with her friends had gone to prison, lost her job and was now being monitored constantly even though now she was on her best behaviour and didn't dare work in computing again, but took a job as a hostess and waitress in a mid-ranged bar restaurant. Working her ass off to help her brother.

He watched as she stood up and walked off to the back of the club to the ladies room before moving in to a closer position, hidden in the shadowy areas of the club breaking the line of sight with the few security cameras the he had noticed. A few minutes later and Celia was just about to walk past him. He lightly touched her arm before talking loud enough in to her ear over the music.

'You're looking good.' He said.

Celia turned round with a look of shock on her face and swiftly smacked the man across the face as she sneered at him.

'Aiden.' She grimaced.

'I guess I deserved that.' He said as he rubbed his now stinging cheek.

'Damn well you deserved more than that, you're lucky I don't castrate you right here right now.' Celia growled. 'What the hell do you want?'

She was well beyond pissed off. Aiden thought Celia was about to explode.

'I wanted to ask a favo…'

'No no no absolutely not.' Celia cut off Aiden mid speech. 'I know what your favours involve, so no way.'

'Don't you even want to know what it is?' Aiden questioned. He knew Celia was quite curious about a lot of things, that's why she did what she did back in the day.

'No I do not want to know what it is Aiden. But I know it would involve breaking the law, like always. I'm on the straight and narrow now I've got responsibilities.'

'Like helping your brother pay off that forty grand he got off a loan shark.' Aiden stated. Celia's brows furrowed in anger after he said that.

'How dare you!' She exclaimed. 'I don't believe you're using that against me. ME! Of all people!'

'Come on I know you could clear that debt within minutes if you wanted to.' Aiden said. Celia just started to laugh.

'And end up back in jail again? I don't think so. I can't even phone for a pizza or e-mail my cousins without the NSA knowing about it.'

'I could help you out, and your brother too.' Aiden smiled at Celia who just grinned back at him.

'Yeah I know you could.'

'I could get the heat off you and help clear your brothers debt.'

'Yeah Aiden, I know you could.' Celia carried on smiling. She wasn't budging any time soon.

'Perhaps I should let you think about it for a while. I really do need your help Celia.' Aiden confessed. Though the thought of Aiden actually needing her help made Celia think about what was happening with him._ Christ it must be serious. _She thought. But she still wasn't budging.

'No need to do that, I'm not going to change my mind Aiden.'

'I'll come and find you in a few days we can talk then.'

'Don't bother. My answer will still be the same.' Celia said as she shook her head. She turned around and walked back to her group of friends who all smiled as she had returned. Aiden stayed in his darkened corner watching Celia as she looked up in his direction. She couldn't really see if he was still there or not but her gaze lingered in that area a few seconds longer than it should have done. Aiden grinned then made his way to the nearest exit. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to send her a quick text message. Even though what he had done just then would probably never work in his favour by winding her up like that. He just couldn't help himself. He pressed "send message" on his phone before shoving it back in his pocket.

"Happy Birthday."

* * *

A week later, Celia was sat in a small greasy spoon café a few blocks away from her apartment. It was her first day off work since her birthday night out and she was glad of the break. A weeks worth of nine hour long shifts sure had tired her out so it was nice for her to chill out that day at her own pace. So she decided to treat herself to a full English breakfast and a copious amount of coffee while she read the morning newspapers. It was quiet in the café, not much call for traditional English fare but it did bring in a few tourists and British ex-pats. Celia eventually reached the page in her newspaper which had a few puzzles and a crossword which she started to fill out after fishing a pen out of her handbag. The waitress had brought her over another full cafetière of coffee and a small jug of milk. Celia expertly poured the coffee in to her mug and dumped a few teaspoons of sugar in and a huge amount of milk before stirring it a few times; barely taking her eyes off her crossword. She did however ask the waitress to bring her a Chelsea Bun.

Celia was quite enjoying filling out her crossword till she got stuck on one clue.

'Greyish-white element. Symbol W, eight letters… God I wish I paid more attention in Chemistry class.' She mumbled to herself.

'It's tungsten.' Said a voice accompanied by the sound of someone sliding in to her booth opposite her.

'I would've got it eventually.' Celia snapped as she looked up from her crossword to see Aiden grinning at her. 'What do I owe the pleasure?' She continued with a hefty dose of sarcasm dripping from every word she said.

'I just came to catch up. That's all.' Aiden said as he shrugged off his leather overcoat and took his cap off before running a hand through his hair. The two stared intently at each other for a few seconds before the waitress had returned with the Chelsea Bun Celia had requested.

'Can I get you anything Sir?' She asked Aiden.

'Black coffee please.'

The waitress hurried away leaving Aiden and Celia staring at each other again.

Silence.

'Your coffee sir. Let me know if you want anything else.' Said the waitress as she pushed the coffee cup in front of Aiden. He said a quick thanks before she hurried off again.

The silence and staring continued as Aiden stirred one teaspoon of sugar in to his coffee.

'You're looking well Celia.' He mumbled as he brought his coffee cup to his lips.

'Don't you FUCKING DARE try and charm me Aiden Pearce. You have no right at all!' Celia hissed at him loud enough for him to hear the anger in her voice but quiet enough not to disturb the rest of the café customers. 'It's been nearly two and a half years since you fucked off and left me in the shit. Two and a half fucking years and you come back as if nothing happened and expect me to welcome you back with smiles and open arms?'

Aiden wondered if it was right of him to see Celia like this. Maybe he should have talked to her at a different time but then the thought occurred that she would have probably done the same thing she was doing now. He'd seen Celia pissed off before, but every time she spat her words out now she was edging closer to him over the table. Anymore and she'd be close enough to strangle him. Getting Celia angry was similar to poking a beehive with a big stick, she'd eventually break.

'Celia I…'

Celia glared at Aiden. 'Shut up, you don't have the right to talk to me.' She said as she reached over to the plate that her Chelsea Bun was on and picked it up. She looked at the Chelsea Bun for a second then scowled before setting it back down on the plate. She was getting a headache now and Aiden had just put her off the treat she got herself.

'I'm sorry Celia.' Aiden said sincerely, trying to bridge a gap with her in some way.

'It's too little too late for that don't you think?' Celia sighed. 'I went to prison for you Aiden after you left. I kept my mouth shut about you the whole time I was in there, I'm extra lucky that I didn't have to stay for my whole sentence.'

She looked over her shoulder and caught the attention of the waitress who was serving her, signalling to bring the bill over. The waitress laid down Celia's check on her table and walked off to deal with a customer who had just strolled in. Celia rummaged around in her bag for her purse.

'I don't know what to say to you Celia. In fact there's nothing I can say to you, only that I'm sorry.' Aiden said to her as she rifled through the bills in her purse. He gazed at her face; she looked despondent and solemn. Never changing as she found a twenty dollar bill which she laid on the silver tray with the receipt. She slid out of the booth, tugging on her knee length red woollen over coat on and scooping her handbag on to her shoulder.

'Even during the short time we were together, I knew I was always second best Aiden. I stupidly accepted that, thinking you would come round from your vendetta thing.' Celia chuckled and shook her head. 'But I loved you too much to see that it was my downfall and I don't want to jeopardise myself or my family anymore. I'm sure you of all people can understand that. I'm done paying for you Aiden. Even now you can pay for your own damn coffee.'

Celia left. Aiden was not surprised. He was stupid to think she would help him, after everything. It sounded like everything she had said had been trapped in her for such a long time that it was a great release for her to get it all off her chest; like she had finally laid everything to rest.

He sighed heavily looking at the remains of what Celia had left at the table. Her newspaper with the half-finished crossword, the coffee mug with a smear of subtle peachy-pink lipstick near the rim, the whole Chelsea Bun she had looked at in disgust; very much the same way she looked at Aiden when he sat opposite her. He picked up the sticky currant bun, eyeing it for a moment before he took a bite out of one of the corners. Aiden proceeded to pick up the pen Celia had thrown down on the table and turn round the newspaper. He was going to finish her crossword.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again everyone! Agh I couldn't stop writing, so here's another chapter.**

**Please, please, PLEASE get in touch and tell me what you think and if I should continue this. Some feedback would be lovely if you guys don't mind. :) Leave me a review or send me a PM.**

**Peace out! –Deeny xxxx**

**All characters belong to the folks at Ubi, except my OC's. :)**

* * *

'Okay so that's the ultra-hot chicken wings with fries and a garden salad, double cheese burger with fries and extra pickles, barbeque ribs with Caesar salad and slaw, cod fish tacos and a pitcher of Bud.'

Celia was repeating the order just given to her by a group of college guys who had just walked in. It was getting late and it would nearly be the end of her shift but hopefully these guys wouldn't be hanging around for much longer after they got their food. Celia worked in a particularly eccentric place called Charlie's Sports Bar and Grill, a privately owned ode to Hooters in a sense that all the waitresses were female and were required to show a bit of skin; without the strict uniform of Hooters though so Charlie's staff could wear pretty much whatever they liked. Men however were either employed in the kitchen or on the bar. The place itself was decorated in such a way that made it feel like a chalet in the Alps or a cabin in some forest somewhere. A log fire was tucked away in a corner along with some comfy sofas and chairs; the floor was wooden along with most of the walls which were panelled halfway up leaving bare stonework on top, pictures of burly looking men holding up huge fish they had caught hung from the walls as well as random pieces of taxidermy; the biggest being a stuffed moose head above the fireplace that the staff nicknamed "Bob." At least the jukebox played some decent music, a bit of everything along with some new stuff and some old classics. There was always some kind of sport shown on one of the many TV's dotted about.

Celia never really deviated away from what she wore at work. She always wore either plain black or dark blue denim shorts and a plain low cut t-shirt or vest top as it did get quite warm. Normally she wore her flat black leather biker boots to work as they were quite comfy. She was the oldest woman working there but she didn't exactly look her age, plus Charlie kept her around cause she was really good at her job and was great with all the customers and her co-workers. Eager to finish her shift and get home, Celia sent her order in to the kitchen and poured her customers their pitcher of beer. As soon as her order was ready she had brought it over to her customers table in near record time.

Little did she know, she was being watched. Not by anybody in the bar that evening or even by her "friends" at the various agencies that were keeping tabs on her which she knew they did anyway; but a few miles away in some corner of Chicago, Aiden was watching Celia chatting away to a guy working behind the bar who looked just as bored and eager to leave as much as she did. It was quiet that evening and most of the staff obviously just wanted to go home. Celia and Jason who she was chatting to were watching the news on the TV mounted on the wall above the rows and rows of bottles at the bar. The news was showing blurry camera footage and blurry stills of a so-called vigilante who had been cropping up recently; righting wrongs and uncovering shady crime related business, that sort of thing. The report said that the police had no positive ID on the vigilante as of yet but were working on it and encouraged anyone with information to come forward. However they also said that the vigilante was not to be approached and was considered dangerous.

Aiden watched Celia through the security cameras in the bar. She shrugged off the news report and went over to check and see if her customers had finished with their food. Thankfully they had finished and didn't want dessert. They swiftly paid, left Celia a decent tip then left. Celia looked at her watch which read 21:54. Just enough time for her to clear her tables, sign off her till and haul ass back home. The kitchen was now closed for the evening too so no more food orders, but the rest of the bar staff who started work later in the day had to wait till one in the morning to close. From now and till then, people on their way home calling in for one last drink after dinner out somewhere and a few groups of students would be the bars clientele. Aiden stopped watching. He had somewhere he needed to be.

* * *

Celia left the bar shortly after ten after pulling on her coat and grabbing her things. Charlie's was about four blocks away from her apartment if she took a shortcut which she usually did as there were fewer CtOS cameras along the way. Constant surveillance got to her to which she avoided the cameras as much as possible. One wrong move that landed her in trouble with the police or anyone else for that matter; she would be put away for a very, very long time. Celia hurried along the alleyways behind a huge apartment condo near her own home not wanting to be out in the cold for much longer until she suddenly crashed in to something. Or someone rather.

'Well if it isn't Nicky's little sister.' Said a voice followed by sniggering from somebody else. Celia rolled her eyes. It was Seb and Alistair. Two minions sent out to collect for their thick as shit wannabe gangster boss David Flannigan. Coincidentally the very man who Celia's older brother Nicky owed forty grand to. Every so often they found her just to relay messages to her idiot brother.

'What do you guys want? I've just finished work and I want to go home.' Celia huffed.

The two cronies never said anything. All Celia heard was the swishing sound of fabric moving and a fist colliding with her face. Then another fist colliding with her face and then the sound of her body slumping against the alleyway wall.

'That's what happens when your bro is late wi… WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Celia tried to focus on the two figures in the dim light with great difficulty. She felt something warm dribbling down the left side of her face from her lip and from her eyebrow. She had been hit so hard that it had split her skin. A bit dizzy from both punches she eventually focused on what she thought were three figures. As the dizziness subsided slightly she definitely counted three figures, two of which were making noises of agony as the shinking sound of something metal sunk in to flesh. Celia staggered back in to an upright position using the wall as leverage and touched her lip and eyebrow with her left hand. It was blood alright and quite a lot of it.

The noises had eventually stopped but one person remained standing and was making their way over to where Celia was groggily stood.

'I'm sorry I didn't make it in time.'

Celia winced and blinked her one good eye as blood had started to seep in to the other.

'Aiden? What the hell?'

'I heard chatter earlier on. Your brother missed his last two repayments so Flannigan sent his boys round to rough you up as a warning.'

'You could've just called y'know?' Celia mumbled.

'I could've done.'

Aiden cradled an arm round Celia's waist to hold her up as she was still a bit dizzy from the punches. It was only a few hundred yards to her apartment from where they were so he walked her the rest of the way. Apartment 306 is the place Celia called home. An open plan apartment with a lot of space, huge windows along with all the mod cons and reasonable rent. The place where she and Aiden spent most of their Sunday afternoons many years ago.

Celia was more with it now as she was ushered in to her apartment by Aiden who sat her down at the small table in her kitchen. He took off his overcoat and cap before he looked for the first aid kit Celia had always kept in the cupboard underneath the kitchen sink. Celia shrugged off her own coat and sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers out of frustration. Aiden had found the first aid kit and opened it up, laying the things he was looking for out on the table.

'How many fingers am I holding up?' Aiden asked Celia as he held up three fingers in front of her. She just glared at him with her right eye.

'Shut up.'

'That's good enough for me.'

Aiden set about cleaning the blood away from her eyebrow which had started to dry and congeal around her left eye with some distilled water and some cotton wool. Then he cleaned her burst lip and split eyebrow with some alcohol and gauze. Celia never winced at all at the stinging sensation the alcohol caused. She began to chuckle.

'Last time it was me tending to your wounds.' She giggled. 'You were always such a baby when I used the alcohol.'

'It feels like a lifetime ago.' Aiden spoke quietly as he concentrated.

'It does.'

It went quiet as Aiden opened up a small pack of Steri-Strips to close up the split on Celia's eyebrow. It wasn't deep enough to require stitches but it would probably leave a small scar.

'I think I'm going to be having a word with my brother tomorrow.' Celica blurted out as Aiden finished tending to her eyebrow.

'Well there's obviously something he's not telling you if it made Flannigan send his thugs out to get you.'

'You don't know anything about it do you Aiden?' Celia asked him.

'No.'

Celica took his word for it. She knew when he was lying anyway and she was fairly sure he wasn't right now.

Aiden had put everything back in to the first aid box and closed it up before looking at Celica's face. Most of the left side of her face had started to bruise.

'A vision in black and blue.' Aiden grinned.

'Very funny.'

Aiden got up from the table and grabbed the first aid kit and put it back in the cupboard where it belonged. He then briskly put his coat and cap back on.

'Leaving so soon?' Celia asked him.

'Sounds like you want me to stay?'

Celia pulled a face. 'Just wondering.'

'I can't anyway. Stuff to do.' Aiden replied as he made his way over to the door. He opened it just as Celica was about to speak.

'Ahhhh, stuff.' Celia nodded her head before pausing. 'You're the vigilante everybody's talking about am I right?'

Aiden just smiled as he walked through the door and pulled it closed behind him.

'I take that as a yes then.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Third chapter now! :D**

**Thanks to MissAlisterCroft who left me a lovely message and followed. I'm glad you're enjoying Life ERROR. I just read your WD story too and I give a thumbs up! :D I loves me some dirrrrrty. Hehehe! And a thanks to Babycakes Nast who had just followed and favourited Life ERROR and Moi! You guys rock!**

**And for those of you who haven't done yet; please follow, fave, review, send me a message and all that good stuff. You'll get a shout out too. :p I'd love to know what you all think!**

**Peace out! – Deeny xxxx**

******All characters belong to the folks at Ubi, except my OC's. :)**

* * *

Celia barely saw Aiden from one week to the next. The last time she saw him was when she was attacked by Flannigan's thugs and he patched her up. She did keep her promise that she would speak to her idiot brother Nicky about it. She was trying her hardest to help him by working every hour God sent and keeping some money aside to help him pay off the forty grand he owed; but it was difficult. She had her own bills to pay too. She spoke to him over the phone one night after she was attacked and have him a royal chewing out. Nicky had developed a rather nasty gambling problem years ago and had a habit of betting things he shouldn't have. Things like his car and eventually, his house; which didn't go down too well with his wife Maria especially when their children were involved. Two of them to be exact, Mark and Madison who were the apples of Celia's eye. Maria eventually divorced Nicky and gained full custody of the kids with Nicky only getting the odd weekend to see them. Maria knew about Celia's shady past but never held it against her in fact they got along quite well. Maria never wanted things to turn out the way they did but she just wanted what was best for their kids. She did hope that Nicky would sort his life out, he was their father after all.

Celia had found out that Nicky had gone away with his mates for a friends Stag weekend. To Atlantic City. Of all the places to go for a Stag Weekend they had to choose Atlantic City. Celia didn't know if Nicky's friends knew he had a problem but she knew her brother was very weak willed. She had tried getting him counselling and even had him see a hypnotherapist a few times but he never took anything on. Her current plan now was to somehow help pay off what he owed then force him in to rehab or something. If he fucked this up big time, then this was the last time she was going to help him. She wasn't alone in worrying about him. As well as there being his ex-wife, Celia and Nicky's younger sister Corrina was worried too. Celia however was more worried about her now especially after being beaten up by Seb and Alistair just in case they came after her. Corrina was twenty four and at university doing her second year of Economics. The eldest of the Fleming siblings Nigel however barely spoke to the rest of the family, he emigrated to Australia years ago so nobody never really bothered with him. Celia however had made a point of calling her sister round to her apartment to give her several cans of mace just in case Flannigan's two gorillas went after her.

And that had been about it since she last saw Aiden. She worked, went to the gym, slept, ate and talked to her sister on the phone a lot. Charlie let Celia change her shifts at work around so she got to leave earlier than what she usually did and even walked her home on some nights, well at least until she got her own cans of Mace and a personal security alarm. Aiden had seen all of this, he was watching her in the meantime. Even though Celia never took a job back in computing after her stint in jail; she did own a laptop. A pretty basic one which she only ever used for listening to music on but it had an integrated webcam and microphone which he used to watch and listen to what she was up to. One Sunday afternoon after she had come back from the gym Celia had started to clean her apartment.

Usually she would come straight back from the gym, change the linen on her bed, clean her kitchen then polish everything and go over all the floors with the vacuum cleaner. She smoked too when she was cleaning. Celia didn't smoke often maybe only a few a day but it was a small vice of hers. Aiden watched her running around her apartment wearing nothing but black panties and a black vest top with a lit cigarette on one hand and the vacuum in the other imitating the music video for "I Want To Break Free" by Queen which had just started pouring through her speakers at full volume. She sang along loudly without a care in the world, spinning the vacuum around and dropping cigarette ash everywhere where she had just run the vac over. She wafted her cigarette holding hand around only to watch herself drop another chunk of ash on the floor, then notice that the stuff was everywhere to which she simply stated to herself; "Aw shit." This had been Aiden's entertainment for the day.

* * *

Several weeks had passed since Celia was attacked. Her bruises had gone and the wounds she was left with were barely visible anymore. She went out to do some shopping in a department store across town where her little sister was working part time in the Ladies Clothing department. She had been trying on clothes and was now standing in front of a floor length mirror hidden in amongst the racks of clothing, holding the odd top up to her neck asking her sister what she thought.

'I like the one you have on sis.' Corrina said. 'That one you have in your hand is kinda horrible. Give it here.'

Celia did as she was told and gave her sister the top to put back.

'This isn't like you sis, you don't really make a habit of shopping are you going somewhere?'

'Nah I just fancied some new clothes.' Celia replied as she held up another top to her neck, checking out her reflection in the mirror. She scowled then put it back on the rack she got it off. 'I think you're right about this top Corrie it's about the best one so far.'

Celia turned to look at her silhouette in the mirror. She had tried on some new dark blue skinny fit denim jeans with some high silvery coloured stiletto platforms and a crocheted black cropped bat-winged poncho which showed a simple black cropped vest underneath. It all showed off her defined stomach and pinched in waist very well, something her little sister was a tad jealous of as she was thin but slightly top heavy. Celia however wished she had more chest though like her little sister. They looked pretty similar though, they had the same eyes and same face shape though Celia was a little taller than her. Corrina had never dyed her hair in her life so she still had her long golden blonde hair which was the same colour as her sisters before she had it dyed dark brown.

'Corrie this outfit is missing something.' Celia said as she turned to face her sister. Corrina scrunched up her face as she thought of what was missing.

'Wait a moment.'

Corrina hurried off and returned a few seconds later with a dark brown leather belt which had a large antique looking buckle on it which she handed over to her sister. Corrina looked over down to the other end of the department where she saw a few customers walking up with armfuls of clothes.

'I'll be back in a few minutes sis I've got some customers to deal with.'

'Sure thing.'

Celia looked down and started to pass the belt through the belt loops on the jeans she was wearing then tightened the buckle.

'I keep telling you you're looking good, but you don't seem to listen to me.'

Celia snapped up and saw the reflection Aiden behind her in the mirror. She nearly jumped out of her skin when he passed his hands over her hips and rested both his thumbs down the front of her jeans waistband. He grinned as he rested his chin on her right shoulder.

'Are you following me Aiden?' Celia asked him, completely ignoring his previous statement like always.

'Maybe I came here to shop and this is just a coincidence.'

'I had no idea you liked wearing women's clothes Aiden.' Celica giggled. Aiden laughed. He still hadn't moved his hands nor did he take his chin off her shoulder.

'You're still wearing that perfume I bought you.'

'I must admit it was one of the better gifts you bought me.'

'And the popcorn machine wasn't?'

'You broke it after a week!' Celia exclaimed.

'How are you anyway Celia? Healing nicely I see.' Aiden asked her. He had now taken his hands off her and straightened up. Celia had turned to face him.

'Fine I guess. Nicky's on his last ever chance. I'm leaving work earlier than usual each night and I bought some Mace too.'

'Have you thought any more about my request?'

Celia sighed heavy. Of course he hadn't come to see her, he just wanted an answer. She was getting pretty tired of it.

'Listen, Aiden. The bottom line is no. But if I suddenly decide to change my mind, I'll call you. Or at least try to.' Celia rolled her eyes. Aiden had always been at the forefront of security. When he wanted to he could damn near impossible to find or contact. And Celia wasn't about to start tapping systems again just to find him. Her phone was considered an antique too compared to current phones now. Hers was an old Nokia from when WAP and cameras were the new it thing. She made herself keep this phone to help resist any hacking urges. It made calls and sent texts and that was all she needed.

'That's another reason why I came to you, I wanted to give you this.' Aiden said as he reached in to his pocket. He pulled out a shiny new black smart phone which still had all the protective plastic wrapped round it. Celia glared at the phone in Aiden's had as if he had just pulled a dead hamster out of his pocket to show her.

'Aiden I can't' Celia said. Reminding herself why she didn't own a smart phone.

'Please I want you to have it, for my peace of mind. I know you don't want it but you'll need it should you ever need to contact me.'

'You could just give me your number y'know?' Celia mumbled.

'No, it changed constantly. You need the software to decrypt the security to call my number.'

'A proxy.'

'Exactly.' Aiden replied.

Celia chewed her bottom lip for a moment then took the phone slowly out of Aiden's hand.

'Only if I really need to contact you thought.' She reminded him.

'Fine. It's totally safe and secure. Your friends at the agencies will have a hard time trying to crack this phone if you use it.'

'Thank you, Aiden.'

'I had better go. I'll see you around Celia.' Aiden said as he adjusted his cap on his head.

'Stuff… to do?' Celia asked. Aiden nodded.

'Yeah, stuff.'

Aiden left.

Celia looked at herself in the mirror now just remembering she had a bunch of clothes on that needed paying for. She shook her head quickly as she noticed he cheeks were crimson. She dashed in to the changing room she left her stuff in and got back in to her own clothes. She quickly put the clothes she was about to buy back on their hangars and draped them over her arm as she slung her handbag over her shoulder. She still had the phone Aiden had given to her in her hand. She stared at it for a second before dropping it in to her bag. She peered over the clothing racks after leaving the changing room to see her sister dealing with her last customer at the till. She hurried in that direction so her sister could serve her instead of a girl who had just appeared to help with the sudden rush. She wanted her sisters fifteen percent discount.


	4. Chapter 4

**Woop wooop! Hi everyone!**

**Thank you so much again to MissAlisterCroft who left me some more review awesomeness and for the lovely PM you sent me! It really did make my day which is cool because I really did have a crappy time at work today and a fab message about my story made me smile. :)**

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**Peace out my loves! – Deeny xxxx**

**All characters belong to the folks at Ubi, except my OC's. :)**

* * *

Celia was a very busy woman at this moment in time. On top of work over the last few weeks she had attended several parties. One was a baby shower, one was an engagement party and the last one was her mother's sixty-third birthday dinner outing. It was normally a family affair where they would all get together and go out to a nice restaurant for a meal; though this year their numbers were pretty sparse. Only her mother, her sister and her Aunt May attended so it ended up being a girls night out. Nicky was invited but he never turned up. Celia's mother June expected it as he didn't turn up last year either, but at least he sent her a card this year. Good food was eaten, many drinks were had. It was a good night. And they would probably be doing it again very soon as it was Corrina's birthday soon.

Aiden had also been to see Celia a few times too. Actual social visits not his usual creepy surprise encounters. What really surprised her was the one Wednesday night he strolled in to a very quiet, almost dead Charlie's when Celia was just about to finish and sat down at the bar with her and had a drink.

'Evening Sir, what'll it be?' Said Jason who was working the bar that night.

'Pint of Guinness Jason, in fact make that two I've just finished work and Aiden is paying.' Celia grinned as she strolled over. She took off her apron and laid the tray she was carrying down on the bar as she planted herself on a bar stool next to Aiden; who had taken his cap and over coat off. 'So, what brings you to Charlie's tonight?' Celia quizzed.

'Nothing really, just fancied a drink. Figured I'd come here.' Aiden mused.

'Aw and here I thought you'd come to see lil' ol' me.' Celia chuckled.

'Well I suppose you being here is a bonus.' Aiden retorted. Celica playfully shoved his arm.

'Cocky shit.'

'Guinness and Guinness.' Jason said as he placed the two pints in front of Aiden and Celia. Aiden handed over a twenty dollar bill he had pulled out of his jeans pocket. Jason had quickly rang up the total on the till and issued Aiden his change.

'So I take it you two know each other then?' Jason asked as he leant an elbow on the bar. 'I don't think I've ever seen any of Celia's friends in here ever.'

'Know each other?' Celia said as she took a huge gulp of her Guinness then licked the foam off her top lip. 'Understatement of the century that.'

'We used to date.' Said Aiden with a smirk on his face. Jason "ahh'd" in reply.

A while later after another pint, Aiden and Celia were out on the street. Aiden was walking Celia back to her apartment which only took about ten minutes the long way round.

'How's it going with your brother?' Aiden asked as they walked alongside each other.

'As well as it could be really. I managed to scrape some money out of him and made a payment to Flannigan along with some money I saved. It came to about two grand. Did it myself I wouldn't trust Nicky with two grand right now.' Celia replied.

'He must be in a bad way.'

'Very. I barely see him though.' Celia sighed. 'I get the odd call from him but that's about it.

It went quiet for a few moments till Celia broke the silence. She'd never known it to be that awkward between them before, even when they argued.

'What about you anyway Aiden? You always seem to be grilling me but you don't say much about yourself.'

'There's not much to say really.'

Celia knew he didn't really want to talk about himself. Considering what he did with his days, Aiden was a really private person and he always had been. But she knew him well and she knew he would tell her eventually if he wanted to, so she decided not to push the subject. Celia was warming to him again. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not. They got along famously when they were together but him turning up out of the blue like he did after years of not seeing each other and after Celia's incarceration which Aiden had played a part in; it really did test her emotions to their breaking point. She did love him a long time ago, even though she knew that she was always in second place to his wife. Ex-wife really as she had died. Celia never asked him nor did she even dig in to the subject off her own bat but something happened to Aiden's wife in which she ended up dead and it was this that had turned him in to a vengeance riddled man. Aiden and Celia did have fun together and they enjoyed each other's company whilst they were dating; but Celia always had the one niggling thought in the back of her mind that she was just his rebound piece and he only got close to her because of who she was and because of her skills. Sometimes he would just disappear for a few days then return to her all battered and bruised and then everything would go back to normal. Then weeks, sometimes even months later; he would do the same thing again. And every single time, Celia would be there tending to his wounds and giving him the attention only a woman madly in love could provide to a broken man.

Celia was now in her apartment. Aiden had swiftly left. Celia kicked off her boots and hung her coat up by the door then climbed on to her sofa and made herself comfortable. She stretched and yawned then tucked her feet underneath herself as she reached to the coffee table for her TV remote to turn it on. She idly flicked through the channels looking for something good to watch, finally settling on an older episode of South Park which she instantly started laughing at. Her mind had started to drift as she eventually lost all her concentration on the TV. She thought about when she had first met Aiden. It wasn't even a proper meeting they had just caught sight of each other whilst they were both visiting a mutual friend of theirs, Jordi Chin. Celia had gone to see Jordi after he asked her to provide some computer viruses that another client of his had requested for some reason. Celia was a skilled and talented programmer and excelled at it during her days studying at MIT so coming up with specific viruses and hacker programmes was a breeze to her. Jordi always paid her well for use of her services. It was on one of these occasions when Celia had delivered her goods to Jordi and was leaving when Aiden walked in. They never spoke the first time, but on the other occasions when they crossed paths they had begun talking. Jordi told Celia shortly after Aiden and she got together that Aiden always asked about her.

Celia brought herself back to reality. That was a very long time ago and Aiden had somewhat stayed the same. Sort of. He was more intense now, but Celia liked to think he still had his sweet side. He was good to her when she thought about it.

* * *

'Sis I am telling you now, if I eat fries from your plate the calories don't count 'cause they ain't mine!'

'You are so full of shit Corrie!' Celia laughed at her sister as she smacked her hand away from her plate. Not soon enough though as Corrina did manage to pinch a few fries and she quickly shoved them in to her mouth with a cackle. The two sisters had gone out for dinner after Celia had finished an earlier shift than usual at work and Corrina had finished her classes for the day. They had a long catch up as they hadn't spoken to each other since their mother's birthday dinner the week before. In fact they mostly talked about their mother who was barely in the country as she was forever taking vacations away with friends of hers. Celia and Corrina's parents had very good jobs back in the day. Their mother June was a high flying accountant and their father Bill was a highly sought after lawyer. June had accumulated a lot of money along the way and was sure enjoying it after her retirement. She did spoil her kids every so often, but they left their mother to her extravagant holidays saying she deserved them. After she married Bill she became pregnant aged 23 with the eldest Fleming sibling Nigel, then Nicky and Celia were born fairly close together and Corrina came much much later. After the first three had grown up a bit, June studied to become an accountant as a mature student and after a career of nearly thirty years; she retired shortly after Bill died. She worked hard for her career and for her kids, even though only two of them were still in constant contact with her.

'I think mum's in Portugal or Spain or something.' Corrina said as she stabbed her fork in to a crispy chicken salad she was munching through. 'She'll be back at the end of next week I guess.'

'I can't wait to see what treasures she'll bring us back this time.' Celia chuckled. 'I'm betting some really big stupid hats, ooh or even a straw donkey!'

Corrina made a face as she pushed her plate away. 'I'm done.' She announced. She had left a few cherry tomatoes and some salad leaves. Celia dove in to what was left with her fork.

'You want anything off my plate?' Celia asked. Corrina just shook her head.

'I've already taken what I wanted. Ha!'

'Well I'm done then too.' Celia said as she laid down her cutlery on the plate before signalling to their waiter that they had finished and wanted their bill bringing over.

Celia and Corrina linked arms with each other as they walked out of the restaurant and on their way to the nearest train station.

'So how is it going with you and that guy you've been seeing Corrie?'

'Okay actually. We're going on another date on Friday night.' Corrina replied with a smile.

'That's nice. So long as he doesn't turn out to be a shit.'

'Aw come on sis he's really quite nice. Besides, changing the subject... I'd like to know if you've had an eye on some guys.' Corrina nudged her sister.

'Nothing new to report.'

Corrina was now tutting and shaking her head. It's been a while now sis since you had a man, don't you wanna settle down or anything?'

'I really don't know Corrie. I really don't know at all.' Celia sighed.

'I thought you and Aiden would've settled down. I liked him, he was one of your better boyfriends.' Corrina stated. 'I really did hope it would turn out awesome for you two.'

Celia chuckled at her sister. 'It's quite hard to keep a relationship going when one of you is in prison and the other pulls a Houdini for God knows only why.'

'Yeah I guess so.'

The sisters had stopped at the train station and were about to part ways.

'Thanks for the dinner sis I had a good night.' Corrina thanked her sister as she gave her a hug.

'Are you sure you're alright taking the train home? I'd much rather you get a taxi or something.'

'I'll be fine, don't worry so much. Remember I have that mace you got me.'

'If you insist.' Celia said as she gave her sister a hug in return. 'Now go before you miss your train.'

'Night Cee Cee. Love you!'

'Love you too sis! Don't go talking to strange creepy men offering you candy!' Celia shouted at Corrina who started laughing as she walked in to the station as several people had started looking at them strangely. Celia shook her head and wandered back to the main road where she flagged down a taxi. It was a few miles back to her apartment so she wasn't walking nor did she want to wait for the next train going in her direction to come along.

She got home fairly quick and out of the now torrential downpour that had appeared out of nowhere. The first thing she did was turn on her TV and a few lamps around her living room before she went and got changed in to her PJ's. She made herself a big mug of coffee and got comfy on her sofa to enjoy a few hours of mindless TV shows before she went to bed. Celia lay down on the sofa and flicked through the channels looking for something to watch till she settled on watching Reservoir Dogs. She threw the TV remote back on to the coffee table which landed next to the black smart phone which Aiden gave her weeks ago. The protective plastic was still on it. In fact the thing hadn't even been switched on. Celia picked the phone up and looked at it for a moment, rubbing her thumb over the screen. She mumbled something incoherent then shoved the phone back on to the table never thinking any more of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey folks! Just a quick note here as I got to get up early-ish tomorrow morning. But here we are! A new chapter! Thanks ever so much to MissAlisterCroft who has been leaving me some absolutely fab comments. I'm so glad you're enjoying Life ERROR. And of course I'm gonna keep writing! I love hearing what you think! :)**

**So everyone, please fave, review, send me a PM and so on. I'd love to hear from you all! And go check out MissAlisterCroft's stories too while you're at it. ;)**

**-Deeny xxxx**

* * *

Celia had finished watching Reservoir Dogs and was contemplating either staying up to watch something else or just going straight to bed. She had a day off from work tomorrow so her plan was to have a bit of a lie in then possibly clean her apartment and bake a cake or something to keep the boredom at bay. She flicked through the channels on the TV, half asleep and yawning. The low, deep rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance and the rain was so heavy and loud as it battered against her windows, Celia had to turn the volume up on her TV a few notches. She stretched out on the sofa in attempt to loosen up her joints and muscles before the sound of her doorbell ringing freaked her out and made her jerk her limbs in fright; so much so she bashed her toes on the edge of her coffee table, a loud barrage of obscenities escaped her mouth as she winced and rubbed her foot thinking it would help.

The thought had occurred to Celia is that it was kind of late for visitors after glancing at her watch that read 10:47 PM. The second thought that occurred was who was it at her door and how the hell did they even get in the building which really should have been her first thought. Celia hobbled over to her door and peered through the security peephole. She squinted at the out of focus figure on the other side of the door until she studied the colour of the persons clothing. Brown coat. Olive green cap. It was Aiden. She turned the keys in the door locks and opened it up to find Aiden stood with his head down and absolutely soaked to the bone; in fact rainwater had started to pool round his boots.

'Aiden what the he…'

'I need your help.'

Help with ahhhh what THE FUCK IS THAT?!' Celia shrieked. She grimaced as she pointed to the top of Aiden's right shoulder which had something shiny sticking out on a funny angle through his coat. She opened her front door fully to him and stepped aside to let him in. She closed the door behind him and turned the locks before she rushed back over to Aiden who had now sat himself down in a chair at Celia's kitchen table. He kept his right arm stationary and removed his sodden cap using his only functioning arm and laid it on the table. His normally brown hair had gone a lot darker as it was wet through also. Celia made a quick detour in to her bathroom and returned with a hand towel which she put down on the kitchen table.

'What the hell happened Aiden?' She asked him as he shifted in his seat.

'Chasing down some guy who had just attacked a young girl then ran off with her purse. Followed him in to an alleyway to find two other guys he was going round stealing with. Took out two of them easily then the third got lucky, slashed my chest with a pocket knife, got me in the shoulder then it broke off the handle.'

'What happened to the guy?' Celia asked.

'I knocked him out like the other two.'

At least Celia got the whole story out of him within a few moments.

'Stand up, lets get that coat off you I know you wouldn't want me to cut you out of it.' Celia said. Aiden loved that coat, he'd had it for a long time. At least as long as Celia had known him anyway. 'I'll cut you out of your sweater instead of struggling to get it off.'

Aiden did as he was told. Ccelia stood on a chair next to Aiden so she could carefully lift his coat off and over the knife that was sticking out of his shoulder. It took a while but they eventually managed to get his coat off with little fuss. Maybe the odd grumble from Aiden who was obviously in pain but that was about it. She draped his coat over the back of the chair he was sat on then went and retrieved her trusty first aid kit from the cupboard under the kitchen sink. She opened it up and rummaged around for a pair of scissors she kept in there.

'Sit down.' Celia commanded. Aiden did as he was told again.

Celia looked at the beige sweater Aiden wore underneath his coat which was now sporting a rather large crimson stain all around his right shoulder, one of the sources of blood coming from a gash in the sweater that had gone right through that, through the black t-shirt he had underneath and straight through to his skin which had thankfully started to cease bleeding so much. She carefully cut through Aiden's sweater from the bottom hem right up to the neck then across to where the blade was sticking. She carefully cut right up to the blade so as not to cause him any pain then cut down the sleeve. Aiden's sweater was now on the floor in bits. Soon after, so was his t-shirt. Celia let out a low whistle as she inspected his wounds closer.

'That guy that did this is officially an asshole.' Celia mumbled. 'You want some painkillers before I try getting this bugger out?' She asked as she pointed to the protruding blade.

'No, but some whiskey wouldn't go amiss.'

'Whisky it is then.' Celia said. She grabbed the towel she had brought through then laid it across Aiden's head before opening one of her kitchen cupboards, bringing out two short glasses. She already had half a bottle of whisky left out on the worktop so she grabbed that and rested everything on the table next to the first aid kit. She swiftly opened the bottle and poured a healthy measure in to each glass. Aiden soon had his glass in his hand and had taken a large swig. He eventually rubbed the towel on his head in an attempt to dry his hair.

* * *

'Right lets get this thing out.' Celia stated. 'You ready?'

'As I'll ever be.' Aiden mumbled.

'Okay. Try not to move though. The gash on your chest shouldn't start bleeding again if you keep still.'

Celia brought a chair round and sat behind Aiden so she could get a better angle as she was patching him up, setting some gauze down beside herself at the table. She looked at the blade and tried to think how to go about sorting it out as she was readying a curved needle and thread to stitch it up if she needed to which was likely. She gently pinched her thumb and forefinger on the flat sides of the blade and slightly tugged it to see if there was any give in it. There wasn't, this thing was stuck in pretty good; maybe about an inch and a half or so. Aiden winced when she touched the blade, but there was no way she was getting this thing out using only her fingers.

'There any flat head pliers in that box Aiden?'

Aiden dove his left hand in to the box and rummaged around eventually finding two pairs of pliers. A set of long nose pliers and the flat head pliers she was after which he passed over his left shoulder to her. Celia readied a thick wad of gauze in her left hand and held the pliers in her right. Carefully she clamped the pliers on the flat sides of the blade which instantly provided a better grip on it than her fingers ever could. Without warning she slowly but forcefully pulled the blade out of Aiden's shoulder. He growled and swore from the sheer pain as he felt the blade sliding out. Blood started to trickle out of the wound to which Celia applied the gauze and held it down applying much needed pressure.

Aiden had calmed down after a few minutes. Celia just wanted to stitch him up and for him to be okay. She peeked under the gauze to see how the blood flow was and if it had stopped. Much to her relief nothing appeared to be coming out anymore.

'I'm gonna clean this up then put in a few stitches. Sure you don't want any painkillers now?' Celia asked. Aiden just shook his head.

'Fair enough.'

The stiches were the easy part. Aiden never bothered about the pain of a needle going through his skin as the pain of being stabbed with a knife then having said knife removed obviously surpassed having stitches put in. Celia had cleaned the wound and quickly put in 4 neat stitches which she was quite proud of considering she hadn't done stitches in a long time. In fact the last time she had done stitches was on Aiden when she was with him years ago. With that over, she dabbed on a bit of iodine then covered it with a low adherent patch. Happy that she was finished with that, she brought her chair round and faced Aiden.

'I think this one won't need stitches it's not that deep really.' She stated as she dabbed round the gash with some alcohol soaked gauze. Aiden squirmed and flinched as he felt the alcohol sting in the wound. She shifted around in her seat uncomfortably when she was trying to reach over to clean the blood away from Aiden's chest, made difficult by his long legs getting in the way. So she stood up hoping she could get better access. After cleaning Aiden's wound, Celia opened up a pack of Steri-strips to hopefully close it up. She still couldn't position herself right as she tried to push the cut skin together and Aiden couldn't help her do it as the arm he would be using to help was out of commission. The laceration ran down from a few inches below his collarbone toward the middle of his chest, the cut itself being about five inches in length. It was awkward for her to try and fix.

'Bring your knees up.' Celia commanded.

Aiden who had his legs stretched out brought his knees up so his boots were flat on the floor. Celia swung her leg over and straddled Aiden giving her better access.

'Much better.' She mumbled as she was now able to edge one side of the laceration to the other side and begin applying the Steri-strips.

'Celia.' Aiden said.

'Shush I'm trying to concentrate.'

'Celia.'

'What Aiden?' Celia replied. She had gotten in to a Steri-strip groove now and Aiden had put her off.

'I see your bedside manner is as impeccable as ever.' Aiden smirked. He was making a joke.

'My bedside manner has always been excellent.' Celia grumbled. 'You know damn well it is I was your own personal bloody nurse for long enough.'

'That is true.'

Celia had now finished attaching the last Steri-strip and was now sticking on another low adherent dressing on over her handiwork.

'Don't you think you should start taking better care of yourself more now.' Celia stated as she pressed the edges of the dressing down on to Aiden's skin.

'You know I'm not very good at that.'

'Well maybe you need someone to take care of you then.'

'You have no idea.'

Celia felt Aiden's hand rest on her leg as they both stared at each other. Moments had passed even though to them it felt like time had come to an abrupt standstill. Both Aiden and Celia had started to lean in to each other until Celia quickly realised what was happening and bolted up to frantically start putting the things she had used back in to the first aid box. She felt a bit jittery now and tried her hardest no to let this show to Aiden.

'You can stay here tonight if you like, I wouldn't go running around in your condition if I were you.' Celia said as the closed her first aid kit then shoved it back in its cupboard. She remembered she poured herself a shot of whiskey earlier that she hadn't touched, so she grabbed the glass and downed the amber liquid. 'Take my bed if you like, you need your rest.'

'I'll be fine on the couch.'

'If you insist. I'll get you some blankets.'

Aiden watched as Celia ran through in to her room and returned carrying a few blankets and some pillows which she set down on the sofa. Aiden sat and sipped the rest of his whiskey. Celia had disappeared back in to her bathroom and brought a small bottle of strong painkillers and placed them in front of Aiden.

'I suggest you take a few of these soon to help with the pain. Goodnight Aiden, I'm off to bed now.'

'Celia?'

Celia turned round and looked at Aiden. It was like looking at a memory made real again. Aiden sat with barely anything on, looking like he'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson, sipping a glass of whiskey and grinning at her, but the memory had a different ending; Celia snuggling up to him "kissing it better." Aiden hadn't changed physically at all and was still in good shape. Celia's nostalgia continued. She must have put Aiden back together so many times that he should have been a patchwork quilt. But as soon as the memory came, it had gone.

'Yes Aiden?' Celia said as she snapped out of her daydream.

'Thank you.'

Celia smiled.

'Don't mention it.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone!**

**Wow I'm on a roll with this huh? I can't stop writing I really can't!**

**A special thanks to Babycakes Nast and MissAlisterCroft who left me some lovely messages. It makes my day when I get messages as awesome as those. It's these that make me keep writing! :) I'm glad you're both enjoying Life ERROR and I'm definitely going to keep on writing. So thank you again for your kind words. :D**

**Anyway, to everyone else reading. If you have a spare moment please favourite, follow, review or message me. I don't bite! Get in touch! :)**

**I think I'd better sleep now it's after 4am and I'm only just getting sleepy now!**

**Peace out – Deeny xxxxxx**

* * *

_'Detective Carroway. It's a pleasure like always.'_

_'Good afternoon Ms. Fleming. The pleasure is all mine.'_

_'I hope we're not gonna be long in here Detective, I have a class this afternoon.'_

_'Yes your rehabilitation classes. I see that you went for Horticulture and Cake Decorating.'_

_'What can I say? They intrigue me.'_

_'So you wouldn't have chosen the Information Technology classes? What with it being your particular specialty.'_

_'The whole point of prison rehabilitation is to turn an inmate in to a productive member of society Detective and not in any way spur them on to recommitting offences once they get back in to the outside world. I chose not to go anywhere near the computer classes of my own accord.'_

_'You don't want anything to do with computers anymore then Ms. Fleming?'_

_'Celia, please. And no, not in the way I was before. If there's a computer, then there's the temptation there for me to do what I enjoyed and what I was good at.'_

_'Hacking?'_

_'Yes hacking.'_

Aiden was sat in a car pulled up at the side of the road waiting for a call from one of his accomplices. To pass the time and his own curiosity, he had managed to find film footage of various interviews that were conducted with Celia when she was in Lincoln Correction Facility. The footage he had found was from when Celia had only been in prison for around six weeks or so. She still had her naturally blonde hair then which was tied up in a scruffy ponytail and was sporting a rather fetching short sleeved bright orange jumpsuit, which she had rolled the legs up to the knee and a pair of prison issue white tennis shoes which were covered in dirt; obviously from her digging soil in her Cultivation class. She was sat at the table in the interview room with one leg crossed over the other and a cigarette burning away in her right hand. A prison guard was a stood a few feet away from her and Detective Carroway opposite Celia, scribbling down notes on a note pad and constantly checking his digital recorder.

_'So how does a brilliant MIT graduate turn to the darkside? Hacking, illegal weapons possession, Grand Theft Auto, larceny, assault. That's quite a list there Celia.'_

_'Here's something a lot of people just don't understand about my line of work Detective Carroway. It's boring. So boring it can drive you to do things like that. Especially when the rewards are just so easy to win.'_

_'It sounds like you were in it for material gain.'_

_'All that was just a bonus. But remember, a lot of the hacking I did upturned a lot of shady shit that was running right under the Chicago PD's noses which they had no idea about.'_

_'I suppose you could say that what you uncovered did make the CPD feel a little, inadequate. Like they couldn't do their jobs properly.'_

_'You'd be amazed at what hackers can uncover Detective.'_

_'Speaking of hackers. Tell me more about Aiden Pearce. Do you know where he is?_

_'I've told you before Detective. I have no idea where he is. When Aiden doesn't want to be found, he won't be found. And you sure as hell won't find him. I'll tell you that for nothing.'_

_'Tell me about your relationship with him?'_

_'You've asked me this before. A girl never kisses then tells Detective.'_

_'Humour me.'_

_'The same as what I told you last time, it was exciting. We had a mutual respect for each other's skills and we shared the same ideals. And the sex was fabulous Detective.'_

_'And you're absolutely positive you don't know where he is?'_

_'Positive. He disappeared. A week later, you lot arrested me.'_

_'I think that's all for now Celia.'_

_'Okay. Can I go now?'_

_'Of course. Oh and one more thing, the CtOS is in final development and should be going live within the next few months. I thought you should know.'_

_'It doesn't concern me anymore, not like I'm gonna be out before the big launch or be a guest of honour. Goodbye Detective.'_

Aiden shut off the feed on his phone then tried to access the laptop in Celia's apartment. He was in luck as she had the laptop on as she was playing music whilst she was baking. Her laptop was at the other end of her apartment opposite her kitchen so Aiden could see everything she was doing, which right now was dancing around her kitchen still in her pj's to Anyway You Want It by Journey whilst brandishing a piping bag. Aiden had left her apartment that morning after sleeping on her couch after she patched him up. She had made him breakfast, found him one of his old sweaters she had kept because it was something she threw on when it was really cold and then he left. She must have worn the sweater quite a bit as Aiden could smell her perfume on it. Donna Karan Cashmere Mist, it was a gift he bought her years ago when he returned from one of his little outings. She was still buying the stuff. Aiden turned off the feed from Celia's apartment. Now wasn't a time to be getting nostalgic.

* * *

'Hey Corrie.' Celia said as she greeted her sister. Corrina had come to see her for a quick coffee and a chat before she went to work.

'Wow sis, you're baking?' Corrina said as she noticed the cake on the kitchen counter that Celia had just finished decorating.

'Yeah I just wanted something to do today. I'm gonna clean this place in bit.'

'Ugh I wish I could just not go to work today.' Corrina said as she sat down on Celia's couch. Celia had made her way back over to the kitchen and switched the kettle on to make coffee.

'Just be glad you have a job Corrie, a lot of people would kill for one right now. Besides, the devil makes use for idle hands.'

'I suppose you're right.' Corrina replied. Celia brought over a _cafetière_ of freshly brewed coffee, some cups, a sugar bowl and a small carton of milk on a tray then laid it down on her coffee table. Corrina looked down at the coffee table as her sister was pouring coffee in to the cups and noticed the black smartphone. She picked it up and looked at it.

'You got a new phone sis? It's not even switched on.' She said as she pressed the button on the side. The screen sprung to life with a blur of patterns and colours. Celia nearly grabbed the phone off her when she noticed her sister had switched it on, but decided to play it cool.

'I've had it a while now, don't even know why I got it I said to myself I'd never get a smartphone.'

'Yeah I suppose you could get in to trouble if you used it to get up to your old tricks again.' Corrina mumbled. She made a face then put the phone down back on the coffee table. 'Anyway, you better book a few days off work next week. My friends have organised a party for my birthday at the Red club.'

'I'll do that when I'm in work tomorrow. Charlie should be able to find somebody to cover for me. Or I could swap shifts with someone.' Said Celia. 'Remember we have dinner at mums on your birthday night.'

Corrina laughed. 'How could I forget? She's making a huge deal out of it this year she's invited all the family. Speaking of family, you spoken to Nicky recently?'

'Nope.' Celia shook her head as she sipped her coffee which was still far too hot. 'Haven't spoken to him in ages.'

'He's such an idiot.'

'I'm with you on that one Corrie.'

The two sisters talked for a little while longer before Corrina had to leave for work. Celia carried on dancing around her apartment this time with a can of polish and a duster. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the smart phone Aiden gave her started ringing. She approached it cautiously before picking it up and pressing an icon on the screen to answer the call.

'I see you've finally turned it on.'

'I didn't turn it on, my sister did.'

'I suppose I should thank Corrina for turning it on then.'

'Is there anything you want Aiden? I was in the middle of cleaning?'

'No, nothing really. Just wondered if you'd pick up.'

'Is this line secure?'

'Yes. Don't worry about your friends it'd take a long time for them to access this phone which I doubt wouldn't happen anyway.'

'That's good.' Celia sighed. 'I don't wanna get in to trouble.'

'I understand. I'll let you get back to your cleaning.'

Then, Dial tone.

'He hung up.' Celia said to herself as she looked at the phone screen. 'He fucking hung up! UGH!'

* * *

Celia got back to her cleaning. She had cleaned her whole apartment from top to bottom. She even sorted out all of her washing, done some ironing that had started to pile up in a corner and she had even cleaned her windows. She had really gotten in to the groove and had now set about cleaning all the junk out of her cupboards and drawers. One built in cupboard in her living room housed a bunch of CD's and DVD's along with a bunch of random crap she had accumulated over the years and shoved in there. She had boxes of cables which she sorted through; two thirds of which she threw in the trash. There were loads of books in there which she didn't need any more which she piled up on her kitchen table thinking she would give them to Goodwill. She even came across a shoebox full of photos. She brought the box over to the table and sat down as she looked through them. There were loads of pictures of her as a child with her brothers and sister. A whole pack of photos were from when she was studying at MIT. She found photos of her father and two of her Uncles from when they had yearly family gatherings from when he was still alive. Celia even set aside a photo of herself, Corrina and Nicky that she had taken professionally shortly before she was sent to prison. She left it out with the intention of having it framed. Celia had to laugh at herself as tucked in the corner of the box were newspaper clippings her sister had saved which had to do with her incarceration. One of which even had a huge picture of Celia on it handcuffed wearing her hideous prison jumpsuit.

One photo sleeve piqued her interest as she had forgotten she had it. The memories had started flooding back as she flicked through the photos of her and Aiden during happier times. Photos from Aiden's birthday when they ended up drinking some Irish pub dry. Photo's that Corrina had taken of the couple when they attended a cousins wedding which reminded Celia that it was the first time Aiden wore a suit and it looked damned good on him. She started laughing at a photo Aiden had taken of her when she had fallen asleep on the couch with her head bent back and her mouth wide open. There were some that were taken during Aiden and Celia's trip to Vegas too. As she flicked through more she found a few of herself and Jordi holding their glasses up as the photo was taken and some of them laughing together as well as some pictures of her with T-Bone both leant against an immaculate '66 Mustang. One picture that really made her smile when she found it was taken during the holidays at the Daley Plaza Christmas Tree lighting ceremony; kindly taken for them by an older lady. Celia remembered she was freezing that day even with her big heavy coat on and all her other winter gear. Aiden had stood behind Celia with his arms tightly wrapped round her and had rested his chin on her shoulder when the nice lady offered to take a picture of them as they looked like a lovely couple. It was one of Ceila's favourite pictures.

Celia had a brainwave as she looked though all of her pictures. She wanted to go and buy a nice big photo album to put her most cherished photos in. She went in to the bathroom to freshen up a bit before grabbing her coat and handbag and leaving her flat. There was a stationary store not far from her that sold a lot of office supplies and things like greetings cards and wrapping paper. She soon found a nice big photo album; black leather bound with thick, rough pages perfect for sticking photos in. She bought a sharp craft knife along with a steel ruler and cutting board for trimming the photos and a glue stick. She hurried home with her purchases eager to start on her album but called in at a liquor store on the way and bought a nice single malt whisky. At least it would keep her occupied for the evening and was more productive that doing nothing but watch TV.


	7. Chapter 7

**Helloooo my lovelies! How are you all doing? :D**

**Another chapter for you all! Please please PLEASE if you have a moment or two, then go and favourite, follow or leave me a message. I'd love for some feedback. And hello again to Babycakes Nast and MissAlisterCroft, hope you two are well. :)**

**I better go now. I have work tomorrow. :(**

**Peace Out! – Deeny xxxx**

* * *

'Okay I'll be back soon I'm just going outside for a smoke. I'll bring back drinks yeah?'

'Thanks sis!'

Celia sighed as she exited the club and leant against the wall near the door. She reached in to her small handbag for her cigarettes and a lighter, swiftly sticking one between her lips and lighting it; savouring the first draw. She put the pack and lighter back in to her back and took out her aincient phone to see if she had any messages. She had two promotional messages from her carrier which she deleted instantly and one from a number she really hated seeing.

'_Your brother's late again. Get it sorted. You have one week. –Seb.'_

'Fuck sake.' Celia huffed as she read the message. That's all she needed, especially on the night that she was out with her sister who was celebrating her birthday. She pushed the worry to the back of her mind to deal with later. She finished her cigarette before throwing it in to a bucket of sand left by the door for people to throw their cig ends in then brought out her bottle of Cashmere Mist; misting her neck with the fragrance and shoving it back in to her bag before she went back in to the ridiculously warm club. Celia headed straight for the bar to order more drinks; pitcher of Mojito cocktail, a bottle of white Chardonnay, a pint of Guinness for herself and a dark rum and coke for one of Corrina's friends who drank nothing else.

The night went on. Celia, Corrina and her six friends who had organised the evening were dancing, drinking and having fun. Celia was hit on a few times by some much younger guys who she shot down almost immediately. One was also out for his birthday, his twenty-first birthday to be exact. He obviously thought Celia was younger than what she was as she did look at lot younger and thirty-five. The other guy must have been in his late twenties but she thought he seemed like a bit of a creepy sleezeball. Corrina and her friends kept saying to her "You should go for one!" But that wasn't Celia's style. Which was fine, the discussion was going well until her sister brought up Aiden.

'Here I have a picture of Cee Cee with her last man.' Corrina said as she flicked through one of her Facebook galleries. Celia was just sat rolling her eyes as she found the picture and was now showing her friends.

'Wow Celia he's really handsome. What the hell happened?' Asked one of Corrina's friends Lucy.

'He left me. Well, not so much left but disappeared off the face of the earth.' Celia muttered as she took a huge gulp of her pint.

'Oh what an asshole.' Lucy retorted.

'What the hell are we doing talking about men for?!' Exclaimed one of Corrina's other friends named Lauren. 'We're on a girls night out and it's Corrie's birthday we should be having fun!'

All the girls nodded in agreement. They all raid their glasses and clinked them together.

'CHEERS!'

It was after one o'clock in the morning when Celia got home. Most of the other girls were three sheets to the wind all except the one who was the most sensible of the bunch and hadn't mixed her drinks that evening; the dark rum and coke drinking Leanne who made sure they all got home okay. Celia had hailed a taxi and got home within about twenty minutes or so. She was just about to unlock her apartment door and walk in when she nearly tripped over a small box sat outside. She bent down to pick it up and noticed there were no delivery labels on the outside, just her name written on in black pen. She eyed the box curiously for a moment then entered her apartment. Her apartment was dark except for the kitchen where she had left on her under cupboard lights. She laid the box, keys and her bag down on her kitchen table before she turned on a few lamps in her living room and switched the kettle on for a cup of tea. Celia slipped off her black heels and wandered over to the table to open the box. She picked it up first and shook it slightly, wondering what was in it then cautiously opened it. She pulled out another small box. It was perfume. The opened it up to find a black bottle, it was Coco Noir by Chanel. Celia sprayed the fragrance on to her wrist and inhaled the scent. It was a gorgeous smelling perfume. She put the bottle down on the table and looked inside the box again to find a small white handwritten card.

'_Thank You. –A.'_

Celia sighed. Of course it was from Aiden. She didn't know what to think; if Aiden was being sincere of if he was being a creep and sweetening her up to get what he wanted. He was too hard for her to figure out at that moment in time. She was tired and quite tipsy, so she brought the bottle with her in to the bathroom to put with her other perfume and get ready for bed. She unzipped her dress and put it back on the hangar she left on the hook behind her bathroom door then removed her underwear and put her pyjamas on. Within a few minutes she had washed the make-up off her face, brushed her teeth, put her dress away then climbed in to her bed. She was out almost instantly. At least she didn't have to work in the morning.

* * *

The day after, Celia woke up feeling fairly okay considering she had drank quite a lot the night before. She was going to clean her apartment again today like she did every time she had a day off, she had some more laundry and ironing to do plus she had to do some grocery shopping at some point what with there being a handful of dried pasta, four out of date blueberry yoghurts, half a stale loaf and a lettuce that had turned a funny brown colour as the only sustenance in her home. But first things first; Celia rang her brother. Which turned out to be pointless as it went straight through to his voicemail. She left him a message. She called him again after she had got dressed and sorted her hair and make-up out. It went straight through to voicemail. Celia figured she would leave it for a while and try him again later after she had done her shopping.

Celia had made her way down to her local supermarket which wasn't far from her apartment. Pretty much everything Celia needed was in her neighbourhood; her work wasn't far, she was near a train station, the supermarket she used wasn't far away maybe a fifteen to twenty minute walk and there were lots of great shops nearby too so she didn't really need to venture further afield. That only happened if she visited her mother or her sister who lived about half an hours drive away if the traffic wasn't heavy. But Celia didn't have a car nor did she need one due to the fact she never went anywhere often and if she did she either walked or took a cab if she wanted to. She didn't like going out so much for no reason, not when her "friends" were keeping an eye on her every move.

She was glad when she entered the supermarket as it was relatively quiet so she could do her shopping in peace and take her time. She casually strolled around with her shopping cart, talking to herself about what she needed. Celia go to the chiller cabinets and picked up some milk and some yoghurt and placed them in the shopping cart. She looked up ready to continue on down to the end of the aisle only to find Aiden stood at the end of her cart with a smile on his face.

'We really need to stop meeting like this.' He said to Celia as she just looked at him slightly dumbfounded.

'You mean to say that you really should stop following me.' Celia retorted.

'Sounds like you don't want me around.' Aiden said, trying to sound hurt by her comment.

'I didn't mean it that way Aiden.'

Aiden moved to walk alongside Celia as she pushed her cart along, trying to remember what she needed to buy but Aiden had completely screwed up her train of thought, so right now she was probably walking past everything she was after without noticing.

'I suppose I should say thank you for the gift you left me.' Celia said.

'You have it on now don't you.' Aiden stated. He leaned his head in to the crook of Celia's neck and smelled the divine scent on her.

'It's a beautiful fragrance.' Celia said as she gave Aiden a sideways glance, wondering what he was doing.

'It suits you.'

It went silent for a moment as Celia turned the corner with her cart, Aden still walking alongside her.

'So did you do anything for your sisters birthday?' Aiden asked her.

'We went out to some club. Got a bit drunk in fact I'm quite surprised I'm not hungover today.' Celia chuckled.

'You can put it away though. I thought I could drink.' Aiden mumbled.

'Aww Irish man feeling a bit beaten by an English girl at his country's past-time?' Celia giggled.

'No it's just no normal person could drink that much and still be standing at the end of the night.'

'Are you saying that I'm not normal Aiden?'

'I might be.'

Celia playfully punched his arm. 'Cheeky bugger.'

The two were walking down the snack aisle. Celia didn't really want anything like chips or candy but she'd look anyway. Her thoughts were disrupted when she heard the rustling of packets and bags. Aiden was in between the shelves and her cart and was randomly picking stuff off the shelves, glancing at whatever it was then deciding Celia needed it so he'd chuck it in to her cart. She dove in and fished everything out that he had thrown in and put it back on the shelves. Boxes of cupcakes, a huge multi-pack of different flavoured chips, cans of Pringles, dips, about four packs of cookies and some huge bars of chocolate. He always did that every time they went grocery shopping together because it wound her up and he thought it was amusing.

'Aiden do you wanna stop chucking shit I don't need in to my cart.' Celia stated. Aiden just grinned at her. Celia shook her head. It was like he never left.

Even though Aiden had done a stellar job of winding Celia up whilst she was shopping he did prove useful when she left the supermarket as he helped carry some of her bags. She always took along a handful of sturdy re-useable bags which she preferred using over the stupid brown bags with no handles they packed your stuff up in. Too many times she had been carrying those home and had fallen over feet just because they were cumbersome and awkward to carry. It didn't take long to get home. Celia was just happy that they got back before it started raining. She had started to put her things away, all the perishables in the fridge, cans in the cupboards and her cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink along with her re-useable bags. She stood up from the sink cupboard and turned around to find Aiden stood behind her which kind of made her jump. She couldn't figure out why he was being so creepy.

'Aren't you doing anything today Aiden?' Celia quizzed him.

'Not really, it's been pretty quiet.'

Celia didn't know what had possessed her to ask, but she did anyway.

'Well if you aren't doing anything, if you want to you could stay for dinner?'

'I'd like that.'

Celia thought she would like it too. Normally she went out to eat or ordered take out these days, it wasn't often that she actually cooked for herself or in fact for anyone else.

'Great well, I could make a stew or something. It's stew weather.'

I'll give you a hand.'

Aiden took off his cap and overcoat then took off his sweater which he draped over the back of one of the chairs at the table. He began peeling some vegetables Celia had bought before whilst she cut up some beef and an onion. Just like old times again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello folks!**

**So, I actually wrote this chapter last night but I fell asleep before I could post it. :S But here it is now for you all. :) Thanks to MissAlisterCroft for the comments. I get all happy and excited when I get a message in my inbox telling me you've left me comments! :D**

**In the meantime, I'm writing another chapter so it may even be up in the next few hours; so keep an eye out for it. If it's not on later, it'll most likely be tomorrow. As always, everybody! Please comment, fave, follow and all that snazzy stuff. Love you all! :)**

**Peace – Deeny xxxxx**

* * *

Aiden and Celia had a nice dinner together. That was last week and she hadn't seen him since then. Which was nothing out of the ordinary. Celia had also managed to get in touch with her brother who she screamed and shouted at down the phone for a good while until he said he would make a payment to Flannigan. Turns out the payment was only a measly five-hundred bucks to which Flannigan wasn't exactly pleased; so he got his two lackeys Seb and Alistair to bother Celia instead of Nicky. She said that they would get a proper payment soon, so that meant taking a trip to see her brother in his shithole basement bedsit on the other side of the city. The whole visit consisted of Celia doing even more shouting and screaming at Nicky who said that he had a friend who owed him some money and he'd try and get it back.

_Great. _Celia thought. _Another unreliable asshole that probably won't pay up. _Sometimes Celia thought that she could just hack a few bad people's bank accounts, get the money laundered somehow then just pay it all off; relieving the burden off her and her brother and the threat to her family. But then again, if she got caught doing anything like she used to; she'd be back in jail faster than a rat up a drainpipe, leaving her family vulnerable. And that was not a risk she was willing to take. So in the meantime she would carry on working, saving and trying to sort her idiot brother out. Easier said than done, but Celia wasn't about to quit any time soon.

One Friday morning when Celia had returned home from the gym so had left her phone on the kitchen work top. She had two missed calls from her boss Charlie who she called back instantly.

'Hey boss what's up?' She asked.

'Celia hey. Um Shelly called in not long ago she's in the ER at the moment.'

'Oh God is she okay?'

'Not really, she said she fell down the steps coming out of her apartment and she bashed her hand. She thinks she has a broken thumb. I hate to ask as it's your day off but…'

'Charlie give me a little while to shower and change and I'll come in.'

'Celia you're a life saver. If you can cover lunch and do till six when Mel, Christie, Jason and Lizzie come in then I'd be grateful.'

'Don't sweat it boss.' Celia said as she looked at her watch. 'I'll be in around eleven, is that okay?'

'Better than okay. See you then.'

'See you boss.'

Celia ended the call then sighed. She had to go and work on her day off. It took her barely any time to get ready at all. She had a quick shower and washed her hair, dried it, styled it, applied a little make-up then changed in to something appropriate for work and was soon on her way.

* * *

Friday lunchtimes in Charlie's did tend to get sort of busy but it was nothing Celia couldn't handle. There were three other waitresses working when she got in; Miranda, Chandra and Holly though Miranda was on her lunch break but would be back soon. It was coming up for half past two when some people had started to leave and the rush wasn't so severe. Celia had just said goodbye to some of her customers who came to her to pay at the bar when Holly quickly shuffled over to her.

'Celia there's somebody asking for you.' Holly said in her dulcet New York accent and pointed over by the door before going back to tend to her own customers. Celia's eyes widened as she saw the person standing with his hands in his pockets and a slight smirk on his face as he saw her looking at him. Celia turned to Charlie who was stood beside her fiddling about with one of the tills.

'Boss do you think I could go on my break a little early?' She asked him. Charlie looked at his watch.

'I don't see why not, Miranda will be back soon.'

'Thanks boss.'

Celia hurried over to the guy standing at the door who just laughed and held his arms out. Celia flew in to him and laughed as she picked her up and spun her around a bit before putting her down.

'Oh my God Jordi what the hell are you doing here?!' Celia exclaimed. 'It's been too long.'

'Far too long babes. Far too long.'

'Well come on grab one of the booths.' Celia said as she pointed to the far wall. 'I'll get you a drink.'

Celia hurried back to the bar.

'Charlie is the Finlaggan Ten around?' She asked. The burly, black t-shirted man she called her boss spun round to have a glance at the bottles lining the bar. She soon found the bottle of Finlaggan Ten year old single malt whisky which had only had a few shots out of it and was practically full. Celia shot round the bar and grabbed a short glass then poured in a shot of the Finlaggan. 'Take this out of my wage boss will you?'

'Celia you've done me a huge favour by covering today, just take the drink to your friend. It's on the house.' Charlie said.

'Are you sure boss? I'd rather you took it out of my wage.'

'Just go Celia!'

'Fine fine!' She replied. She didn't need to be told again. She grabbed another glass and filled it with a few ice cubes before filling it with water. She hurried back over to Jordi who had now sat himself down in one of the booths.

'Your drink Sir.' Celia chuckled as she set the glass down in front of him.

'Thanks babes.'

Celia climbed in to the booth and put her glass of water down.

'Jordi Chin. This is a surprise, how the devil are you?'

'Same old. Same old.'

'You never change do you.' Celia grinned. She had known Jordi for a long time and it was through him that she met Aiden. Jordi had a very select clientele who requested lots of different things from him and he always saw they got what they wanted. Celia used to write illegal programmes and various viruses for him who he would then pass on to his clients for a tidy price, making sure Celia got a good share as everyone was always happy with her work. Jordi was a tall Asian guy with a mad haircut and even madder suits reminiscent of the Eighties. He really hadn't changed at all.

'You have though Celia.' Jordi said as he sipped his Finlaggan. Besides the hair, I hear you've gone legit.'

'Prison will do that to you Jordi.'

'A little bird also tells me that you're back in contact with Pearce.'

'And by little bird you mean Aiden himself I bet.' Celia stated. 'Yeah, he's somehow managed to worm his way back in to my life.'

'Something tells me you're not that happy about it.' Jordi had hit the nail on the head.

'He's being really… creepy. Well, he's quite creepy to begin with but even by his usual standard he's just... There's something bugging me Jordi.'

'Well, the little bird did tell me something.' Jordi started as he took another swig of his whiskey. 'Some people are out for his family again and they may even be out for you.'

'So why didn't the little bird tell me that?' Celia asked.

'Because he's fucking stupid that's why.' Jordi said with a blank face. Celia had to laugh at his remark.

'Really Celia. He's being extra strange with you just because of who you are.'

'Because of who I am?'

'Think about it. The first woman he loved and let in to his life after his old lady died. The one who stuck by him even though he put her through shit most women would run away from. He just wants to help and keep you safe.'

'That thought never even occurred to me Jordi. Since he came back I've always thought he was after something.'

'He does need your help though. He won't tell me why.'

Celia felt like such a fool. But after she thought about it a bit more she figured that Aiden should have just told her outright. She still had no idea why he wanted her help; he seemed to be getting on fine on his own. She'd have to ask him at some point.

'Thanks for the heads up Jordi. I appreciate it.'

'No problem babes. Just keep quiet about it.'

'Sure thing.'

'I'd better go, got some business to do.' Jordi said as he stood from the booth. Celia shuffled out beside him.

'It's been nice seeing you again Jordi. Maybe we should have a proper catch up sometime.'

'We should get drinks one night.'

'I'd like that.'

Jordi gave Celia a quick hug before he headed for the exit. He stopped walking then turned around to face Celia again.

'He won't shut up talking about you by the way.' Jordi smirked at Celia.

'I find that hard to believe man.'

'It's true, every time I see him he updates me. I'll leave you with that Celia.'

Jordi left Charlie's with a quick wave. Celia could barely believe what Jordi has said. So, Mr. Aiden Pearce was worried about the people coming after him and his family; coming after her. But he didn't tell her. He just hung around her like a stalker hiding in a nearby bush. Celia thought it would be sort of sweet if he wasn't so creepy. Now she'd have this playing on her mind.

Work went fairly quickly for Celia as it had started to get busy again. She soon found herself on her way home, so instead of cooking tonight or going out she decided to stop by an Indian restaurant on the way home and get take out. She picked some random curry she had never had before, naan bread and rice and stuffed her face when she got home. Celia ate, threw away the sparse amount of leftovers and settled in for a night of watching crap television on her own like always. She flipped the channels back and forth looking for something to watch which proved pointless as there was nothing good on. She left it on one channel for some background noise as she made herself comfortable. Celia threw her TV remote back on to the coffee table which skidded across and nudged the black smartphone Aiden gave her on to the floor. She groaned as she stood up and made her way round to the other side of the table and picked the phone up. The battery had completely run down on it and needed charging.

'Well it is for emergencies.' Celia mumbled to herself. She went over to the cupboard she had cleaned out a while ago and pulled out the box she had where she kept a lot of spare cables and other random bits of computer things. She came across a socket charger that would fit the smartphone and quickly plugged it in. Celia thought she may start carrying this phone around with her, fully charged just in case. Especially now knowing what she did. She may actually end up in a moment where she needed Aiden.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! The next chapter as promised! Expect more in the next, I'm sort of building up to something. But I won't tell. Hehe! ;P**

**Comment, favourite, follow and message if you have a moment to spare. I don't bite. :P Enjoy!**

**Peace Out! – Deeny xxxx**

Weeks had passed since Celia had a surprise visit from Jordi at work. Shelly's thumb was indeed broken and she ended up having an operation to put it right. But after a while it had begun to heal nicely and she was back at work albeit she wasn't doing her usual waitressing work, so she served as a hostess for a little while till she got the strength back in her hand. All she had to do was show people to tables and carry cutlery and menus so it suited her while she got better.

Celia and the other waitresses however got more hours as Shelly's were shared out while she was off work, which Celia was happy for as it meant she could actually keep some money for herself that month. Every week when she was paid she had to budget; a thing she was never used to. Back before she was imprisoned, Celia worked for a company called Teknologikal Systems; a company that had scores of programmers, system developers and engineers on their payroll. Companies would contact Teknologikal and hire them to develop whatever it was they needed. It was when Celia worked there that she got a fantastic wage being a supervisor and expert in her field and an even bigger wage with more benefits when a certain job came in and she was promoted to Lead Project Programmer. That was when she could afford not to worry about paying her bills and keeping her brother from having his hands cut off or something equally as gruesome.

Of course she did treat herself every now and then with the odd night out or dinner out somewhere with her sister or friends. Of which she had very few of. She considered the people at her work her friends but not the kind of friends you went out socialising with all the time. One real friend she did have was from when she was in prison. A woman by the name of Daniela Williamson who was serving eighteen months for several cases of credit card fraud and a few DUI's. Daniela had already been in prison for around six months before Celia was admitted. She had been out for a while though and had kept in touch with Celia. Whenever they got time they would often meet up for lunch. Daniela was a reformed woman after her stint in prison and had been working in a gardening centre for a while. Daniela and Celia had become friends during their Horticulture course, a thing which Daniela had put to good use when she got back on the outside. She was a fair bit taller than Celia standing at around five foot eight compared to Celia's height of five foot four. She had grown out her coppery-red hair which was cut below her chin when she was in prison, but now sat well below her shoulders. She was as pale as Celia but had a spattering of freckles across her nose and grey-blue eyes.

'So how have you been Celia?' Daniela asked her friend as she picked through some pasta dish she had ordered. The two were sat in a small Italian restaurant they frequently went to when they got together for lunch.

'Good considering.' Celia nodded as she twisted some spaghetti on to her fork.

'Considering? You don't sound too sure.'

Celia slumped her shoulders back and sighed. 'My brother got in to trouble with some loan sharks he owes forty grand to. I've been trying to help him out but he's totally useless.'

'That's not good.' Daniela said whilst frowning at her friends predicament.

'I'll say. The guy he owes sent his minions after me and beat me up as a warning a while ago.'

'You WHAT?!' Daniela exclaimed. 'What the hell happened?'

'There's not much to say, they roughed me up. Given half the chance I think they may have put me in hospital or something, worse.'

'You sound quite nonchalant about it Celia.'

'Well they never got the chance to properly hurt me. The Vigilante saw to that.'

'The Vigilante. As in, THE Vigilante who's going around righting wrongs and doing stuff the police wouldn't even dream of doing? That Vigilante.'

'The one and the same Dani.'

'Wow. He's been mentioned on TV quite a lot recently, he's like some kind of super hero or something.'

Celia had to have a bit of an internal giggle to herself about Aiden being referred to as a "super hero." To her he was her ex-boyfriend who barely shaved from one day to the next, could peel carrots without injuring himself, knew how to use a washing machine albeit on one setting for absolutely everything and occasionally sat watching TV on her couch in just his boxers scratching his balls like most other men on the planet.

After lunch, the two friends went around a few shops to pass some time. Daniela had bought some gifts for her two nephews who she was going to see later on as she was looking after them for her sister, who was going out with her husband to some work dinner function. Daniela loved her nephews to bits and she spoiled them rotten. This reminded Celia that she should go and see Maria and the kids soon. It had been a while since she last saw them.

Daniela and Celia parted ways a short while after finishing their shopping and agreeing to meet up for lunch again soon. Celia went home with a few shopping bags containing some new make-up and the odd item of clothing she bought with the money she had saved for herself. Tonight she was pampering herself for a bit by having a nice long bath and chilling out with a bottle of wine. She was even going through her box of photos and adding more to her big photo album after she had her bath.

Celia arranged some of the photos she had found on the pages of the album to check their placement and size should she need to cut them to fit how she wanted. After delving further in to her photo box she found some ones she had nearly forgotten had been taken. There was one that her mother had done professionally when Celia and her siblings were a lot younger. Celia was about fifteen in the picture. Corrina was only around five years old, Nicky was about sixteen and Nigel was nineteen. All the siblings had similar golden blonde hair, pale skin and plump rosy cheeks. Corrina was the only one who stayed the same. The other siblings had changed drastically. Nigel had a receding hairline last time Celia saw him, Nicky got a lot taller and a lot skinnier even in his face. Celia had nearly ventured in to slightly chubby teenager phase but decided that wasn't for her and started working out by going to kickboxing classes. She got a fit, taught body shape that suited her better and she had kept it ever since. This photo was definitely going in her album.

Celia picked out a random sleeve of photos from her box. The sleeve had "VEGAS" written on in thick black marker pen. Another collection of photos she didn't look through properly the last time she had the box out. A smile crept on to her face as she flicked through them. Quite a few of them were of Celia. There were a few of her sleeping and one or two of her looking in to the bathroom mirror putting some lipstick on. There were even a few of Celia who got a bit drunk one night and had sort of befriended an Elvis impersonator. She was stood next to him, copying the lip thing that Elvis used to do along with some of his poses; but drunk. She had completely forgotten about that night but the pictures always reminded her that it did actually happen.

Then Celia got to the photos she had taken of Aiden. Some Celia had taken of him sleeping, one of which he opened an eye and grinned at her just as she took it. The night they both got dressed up and visited a few very swanky casinos which they had to leave quickly as they had won a sickening amount of money in such a short time and didn't want to get accused of cheating or get arrested. Her favourite one out of the bunch was a photo of Aiden wearing his black suit. He was looking in the mirror in their hotel room and he was concentrating so hard on fixing the tie he had on. The next photo was ridiculous as Aiden had just downed a pint of Guinness and had the glass upturned, resting on his head.

The next photo really made Celia smile. Aiden and she were in bed buried under the covers and Aiden had taken a picture of them with the camera at arm's length. Celia was fast asleep with her head resting on Aiden's shoulder and her arm tightly wrapped round him. Aiden was lightly kissing her forehead in the photo. It was really sweet. The photo had reminded Celia of what Jordi had told her. So Aiden was apparently being sincere with her, but he was after something from her too. She made a mental note to herself to ask him what it was almost every time she thought about him but she never remembered. Celia then thought it would be a good idea to write it down on a Post-It note and stick it on her forehead for Aiden to read should he ever come by. She then thought it would be a stupid idea as the Post-It note probably wouldn't stay there. This was also the time that Celia had realised that she had finished a whole bottle of wine on her own and that she should go to bed, or suffer in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey folks!**

**Well it's nearly half past three in the morning here and I should really go to bed. But I couldn't have a finished chapter here and not publish it. So here you go guys! Hope you enjoy it. And hello to MissAlisterCroft who left me more fab reviews. I'm so glad you're happy with how I'm handling this story. :)**

**Anyway, everyone please comment, message, review, favourite and follow. I'll give you a shout out. :P**

**Okay, beddie-byes now. Haha!**

**Peace Out. – Deeny xxxx**

* * *

'Ugh I can't wait till I can go home!' Celia said to her co-worker Lizzie.

'You're lucky though Celia.' Lizzie replied. 'You don't have to stay till closing!'

'I suppose. But I just go home and do nothing, at least you have a lovely fiancée to go home to Lizzie.' Celia said as she nudged her and winked as she passed her at the bar.

'I guess you're right.' Lizzie smiled. 'When are you gonna get yourself a man Celia?'

'Never at this rate haha! Not with the hours I work!'

It had been a long day for Celia and she was counting down the minutes to nine o'clock when she was finishing work. She only had about ten minutes to go and thankfully the last customers she had been serving had left a while ago. So to pass the last excruciating ten minutes Celia decided to refill the cutlery boxes after wiping down her tables. She was getting carried away with everything and ended up refilling the salt and pepper pots as well as bringing out more paper napkins from the store room out back. It wasn't until Charlie came out from his office and told her she could leave as it was now almost quarter past nine.

Celia hurried in to the staff room to collect her bag and jacket. She pulled her phone out of her bag and looked to see if she had any messages. She had loads for some reason; loads of missed calls from a number she didn't recognise loads of missed calls from her mother and two numbers that really didn't make any sense at all like they were completely random. Celia was just about to ring her voicemail number to see if anybody had left her anything when her phone buzzed to life as somebody was calling her. The ID was just a bunch of random numbers.

'Hello? Celia said as she answered the call.

'Celia I'm outside your work get out here now.'

'Aiden what the hell?'

'Just get out here now Celia I'll tell you on the way.'

Celia slammed her phone shut and quickly pulled on her jacket then hurried out of the staff room quickly waving goodbye to everyone on the way. She swung the bars doors open to find a black Audi A8 parked right outside with the engine ticking over. The passenger door flew open as she approached and she saw Aiden rest his hand on the gear stick. Celia sat in the passenger's seat and pulled the door shut.

'Do you mind telling me what's going on Aiden?' Celia asked him as she put her bag down by her feet.

'Your sister's in hospital.' Aiden replied as he shifted the car in to gear and pulled out on to the road.

'WHAT?!' Celia screamed. Then she realised that was why she had so many missed calls on her phone. She rang her voicemail number again and listened to two messages her mother had left. She sounded frantic and was screaming for Celia to get to Saint Anthony's Hospital immediately.

'What's going on Aiden how the hell…'

'Flannigan. He's impatient. He sent Seb and Alistair out for your sister. I didn't get there on time I'm sorry.'

'You were there?' Celia whispered.

'About a block away. I heard screaming from behind a building and headed for the sound. Corrina was walking home with a friend of hers and Flannigan's two minions dragged them both from the main street. They've hurt your sister pretty bad it's just a coincidence I was in the neighbourhood.'

'Just get me to the hospital Aiden. I can't concentrate right now.'

Aiden drove quickly but safely. He didn't want the law on his back especially as Celia was with him. They soon reached Saint Anthony's and parked up; Celia had practically thrown herself out of the car before it came to a halt. Aiden took his time and removed his cap, overcoat and sweater then threw them on to the backseat. There was a suit jacket hung on the handrail in the back of the car, he quickly put it on over his t-shirt and made his way in to the hospital. He didn't want anyone in there recognising his regular clothes. He caught up to Celia who was trying to get to where her sister was as fast as possible without crashing in to anything or anyone. She stopped dead in her tracks when she reached the room she had been directed to. Her mother was stood in the corner watching the plethora of doctors and nurses tend to Corrina. Celia stood by her mother who let out an otherworldly wail when she saw her eldest daughter and threw herself on to her. Celia's eyes had begun to well up as she saw her baby sister lying on the gurney with Lord knows how many tubes and machines attached to her. Mother and daughter didn't move until one of the doctors announced that Corrina was being taken in to theatre. Celia managed to peel her mother off her and sat her down on a nearby chair whilst she grabbed one of the doctors.

'What's happened to her?' Celia asked the tall older doctor as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

'We have to take her in to surgery now. She's been stabbed in the abdomen and has several broken ribs resulting in a collapsed lung. She's also lost a lot of blood. We'll keep you updated.'

Celia knew what she had to do. She brought her phone out and quickly snapped a photo of her sister lying bloody and bruised on the hospital bed. Celia felt like somebody had just ripped her heart out as she watched the doctor rush off behind the gurney her sister was on as they begun wheeling her out of the room toward the operating theatre. She looked over to Aiden who was talking to her mother who had calmed down a bit and had stopped crying so much. Her mother was smiling at Aiden as he held her hands. Celia's mother had always liked Aiden, she was sure that she was happy to see him. Celia almost jumped out of her skin when she felt someone tapping her on the shoulder.

'Lucy?'

The girl started crying as she dove toward Celia and hugged her. Lucy was one of Corrina's best friends and her room-mate and she was there with her when they were attacked. Lucy though hadn't got off lightly. She had a lot of strapping over her nose and dark bruises had formed under her eyes. Obviously Seb and Alistair had roughed her up too.

'Celia I… I.'

'Shhh it's okay Lucy.'

'But what if she…'

'No don't say anything. Corrie's gonna be fine I just know it.' Celia stuttered out to the now heavily crying girl. 'Now tell me what happened.'

'Well, we were walking home from a restaurant a few blocks away and these… these two guys just came out of nowhere!' Lucy stammered as she took a deep breath. 'One of them punched me and the other just, he just… he just attacked Corrie. He punched her a few times then he, stabbed her! She went down to the ground and he kicked her over and over!'

'I know it's hard Lucy, but please you have to tell me everything that happened.' Celia pleaded with the girl.

'The, the guy that punched me kicked Lucy a few times then he came back to me. I couldn't see very well but he punched me again and I fell. I had a small can of mace in my jacket pocket so I sprayed him with it when he came to pick me up. And then…'

'Go on Lucy.'

'The Vigilante came. I don't know what he did but the two guys were knocked out cold within seconds! He sat me up against a wall, checked on Corrie then told me an ambulance and the police were a few minutes away. Then he left.'

Celia just knew that Aiden had come for her straight after it happened to bring her to the hospital. She knew that if he hadn't intervened and stopped Seb and Alistair then they would have killed her sister and Lucy given the chance or Corrina wouldn't have got to the hospital on time. But then again she knew Aiden couldn't hang around for the police to turn up as they would have arrested him. She was glad he was there though and that he had come to get her.

'Celia I'm gonna stay here, I want to be here when Corrie comes to.' She said with hope in her voice. Celia gave her a hug.

'Thank you Lucy. I'm glad my sister has a friend like you. Come on, go sit down I'll go get you a coffee.'

Lucy nodded and headed towards the waiting room. Celia however went over to her mother and Aiden who were still talking.

'Oh Celia I was just telling Aiden how grateful I am to him for brining you here so quickly.'

'Really mother.'

'Yes really.'

'Well mother Corrie is gonna be in theatre for a while. I suggest you go in to the waiting room with Lucy and I'll get you a coffee.'

'Cee Cee, I know what's going on with Nicky but right now I want to know what you're planning.' Said Celia's mother in a strange tone of voice.

'Nothing drastic mum. But I think Nicky needs to know. Aiden, give me your phone.'

Aiden who had gone quiet reached in to his pocket and pulled out his smartphone and handed it over to Celia. She took the phone from him and looked for one of his tracking apps. She quickly punched in her brother's cell phone number and located him via GPS within seconds.

'If you're going for your brother, then don't go doing anything you'll regret Celia. Aiden, go with her, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid.'

'Stupid, mother? I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm gonna go and put the fear of God in to my big brother. Nothing more.'

'Well I hope so. I'll call you when we know more about Corrie.'

'Thanks mum.' Celia said as she gave her mother a hug.

'And thank you Aiden again for bringing Celia here. It's been nice seeing you again even under the circumstances.'

'No problem June. Corrina's in my thoughts.'

Celia led Aiden back out to the car and climbed in to the passenger's seat. Aiden got in the car and started it up.

'Where we heading Celia?' He asked.

'South State Street southbound from Washington Park. A shithole bar called Tommy's. Nicky's in there.'

* * *

'Aiden set off. He drove carefully again to not arouse attention but the two got to their destination within twenty minutes as it was getting late now and the roads were quiet. Celia was out of the car again before it had even come to a stop so Aiden had to hurry to keep up with her. Celia was on a mission at the moment and very little would stop her from completing it. She flung the door open to Tommy's with Aiden following close behind her. The men in the bar all looked up from their drinks to stare at the short, pissed off looking woman who had just come storming in. Celia knew where her brother was. He was in here often enough and she always heard from mutual friend of Nicky and hers that he was in there on such a night. Celia pounded her way through the bar with Aiden in tow, straight to the back and round a corner where a man was stood next to a door. He started waving Celia away as she approached, saying that she wasn't allowed through the door. Celia paid no attention to the man's warnings but just simply shoved him out of the way and burst through the door he was doing a terrible job of protecting. Behind the door was a large room which was dark and had a low ceiling from which a large lamp was hanging down from over a round table. Seven men were sat around the table playing a game of poker; one of the men was Nicky. All of them looked up to see Celia still advancing and making a bee line toward her brother. He looked at his sister in shock as she strolled right up to him in his chair and landed a solid hard punch right in the middle of his face. The force of Celia's punch sent Nicky flying in his chair backwards on to the ground. Celia stood over him then sat on his stomach as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

'Look at this dear brother.' Celia snarled as she showed Nicky the picture of Corrina she took earlier in the hospital.

'What the hell Celia?!' Nicky said as he felt his nose that was now gushing blood. Celia just batted his hand out of the way.

'JUST LOOK AT THE FUCKING PICTURE!' Celia screamed. Nicky concentrated his gaze on the photo. It took a few seconds for him to figure out who it was.

'Is that… is that Corrie?' Nicky muttered, sounding uncertain.

'Yes. Yes it is Corrie. She's in surgery right now you know. They're trying to fix multiple broken ribs, a collapsed lung AND A FUCKING STAB WOUND!' Celia screamed again as she grabbed her brother's shirt and shook him as she shouted at him. 'This is all thanks to some "friends" of yours."

'Celia I'm sorry I…'

'Shut up Nicky. I took a beating off your "friends" for you. That wasn't funny. And now Corrie's in hospital after taking a beating from your "friends" for you; that is especially not funny seeing as she could die.'

'Celia what do you want me to do?' Nicky said to his sister as she kept a tight grip of his shirt, nearly cutting off his air supply.

'Sort your own fucking life out Nicky. I'm not helping you anymore.'

Celia threw Nicky back down, banging the back of his head on the hard floor. She stood up and looked over at Aiden who was doing something with his phone. He looked up at Celia then followed her out of the room and back through the bar, pocketing his phone on the way.

'Just take me back home Aiden. Celia said as she slid in to the car. Aiden just started the engine and edged out on to the road.

Celia had stayed deathly quiet during the drive back to her apartment. Aiden followed her in and went straight in to Celia's kitchen where he retrieved two glasses and a half full bottle of whiskey. He brought it over to the coffee table in Celia's living room and quickly poured two shots. He handed one of the glasses over to Celia who had taken off her jacket and boots on her way to the sofa and left them strewn about over the floor. She took the glass from Aiden as he sat on the coffee table to face her. She was silently crying as she downed the whiskey and shoved the glass on to the table.

'Aiden. What was it you wanted me to help you with?'

'It doesn't matter Celia. You've got other things on your mind.

'Just tell me.'

Aiden could tell Celia's patience was wearing thin.

'I was after your original CtOS security protocol and system build files. I know you kept them.'

Celia took in a deep breath then exhaled, letting her body relax. She got up from the sofa and made her way in to her bedroom. A minute later she had returned with an overly padded bra and a pair of scissors. She sat back down and began to hack away at the bra, cutting out all of the padding. After Celia had cut enough, she pulled out a small USB stick that she had sewn in to the padding.

'This entire place was searched when I was arrested. This was the only place I could think of to hide everything. Corrie lived here while I was inside.' Celia said as she handed the USB stick over to Aiden. He took it off her then put it in his pocket.

It went quiet between them. Aiden looked at Celia who looked as if all life had drained from her. Tears were running down her face again. Aiden reached over to her and cradled her face in his hands and gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

'Come on. Have another drink.' Aiden said as he smiled at Celia, releasing his hands from her. He poured her another drink then made himself comfortable sitting next to her on the sofa. He grabbed the television remote and switched it on, turning to a local news channel. The weather was on at the moment, the woman basically saying how miserable Chicago was going to be over the next few days. Celia was barely concentrating on anything right now, but her ears pricked up when a breaking news report popped up on screen.

'_Breaking news. Local gang boss David Flannigan has been arrested thanks to an anonymous tip received by the Chicago Police Department a short while ago regarding his whereabouts. Flannigan has been charged with several accounts of murder, drug dealing and involvement in human trafficking mere hours after two of his associates were arrested for the brutal attack on two young women earlier this evening. More on this story, after these short messages.'_


	11. Chapter 11

**Hiiiii! Just a quick one folks, I'm pretty tired so I'm going to bed soon it is nearly ten minutes past two!**

**MissAlisterCroft. I am absolutely honoured that you think my writing would be good enough to be on screen. I've never had anybody say that too me before so I'm very happy you think I have that kind of talent. Thank you so much for saying so! :D And I hope you enjoy this chapter my dear. :)**

**So everyone like always, please comment, message, favourite and follow! I'd love to hear from you all and have a chat or something. I don't bite!**

**Peace – Deeny xxxx**

* * *

'So what are you having?'

'Ooh a pint of Guinness please.'

'Two pints of Guinness.'

The first date Aiden ever had with Celia was in a pub. They sat in a cosy booth in the corner of the Duke of Perth right in the middle of Chicago. It was Jordi who had essentially pushed Aiden in to asking Celia out for drinks as he always asked Jordi about her every time he saw him. "What's the worst that could happen?" Jordi would always say to him.

They spoke the whole evening with no awkward silences and barely taking their eyes off each other. Both knew that if they were dealing with Jordi then they were in to the shady side of things but they were more interested in learning about each other.

'You're accent isn't Irish though Aiden, sounds like you've been over here for a long time.' Celia said to him.

'I have, I lost my accent a long long time ago. You still seem to have yours though.'

'I don't know how though! I've been over here a long time too.'

'So where are you from originally then?'

'Well I was born in York, but I spent most of my early life in Nottingham. My father was from York and my mum is from Stoke-On-Trent.'

'York's a nice place.'

'Yeah it is, I'd love to go back someday. Belfast is nice too I've been there a few times.'

'It's probably changed a lot since I was last there. Which was ages ago.'

Their table was littered with several empty pint glasses. They had talked for hours about anything and everything. The culture shock they both had when they first came to the States was a main point of interest. Celia mentioned that she missed chippy's. Aiden mentioned how he missed some foods from back home that could only be imported here and cost a fortune because of it. Even down to what would be considered a stupid thing to talk about they had a lot in common with each other.

Aiden had walked Celia home that night and they talked constantly on the way, Celia even saying that if they were back in the UK then this would be the time for them to stop at a chippy and get chips to eat on the walk back.

'With plenty of salt and vinegar on of course.' Celia stated.

'And curry sauce.' Aiden added.

'Ugh I want chips now.' Celia huffed.

'Same here. With a pickled egg.' Aiden grinned.

'I never thought people actually ate those.' Celia said. 'The chippy I went to back home always had a huge jar on the counter and I'm pretty sure nobody ever bought a pickled egg.'

'I think you're right. I never knew anyone else that liked them except me. And even then I didn't get them often.'

They carried on talking till they reached Celia's apartment building.

'Well this is me.' Celia said. 'Thank you Aiden I had a lovely evening.'

'So, Celia can I… can I call you?'

Celia smiled a smile at Aiden that warmed him all over.

'Anytime.'

Celia had stood up on her tip-toes and kissed Aiden on the cheek.

'Goodnight Aiden.'

'Goodnight Celia.'

* * *

That is what Aiden remembered as he stared down at Celia who had cried so much that evening, that she wore herself out and had fallen fast asleep. She was in the foetal position and had her head in Aiden's lap. Her eyes had gone red and puffy and all of her eye make-up had ran down her face from crying so much. Aiden knew that Celia had let her guard down and had given up caring if she had allowed herself to fall asleep on him. There must have been relief for her too as Flannigan and his cronies had now been arrested. She was no longer worrying. All she had to worry about now was her baby sister, but Aiden knew that if Corrina was anything like her sister; it would take a lot more than a few broken ribs and a stab wound to get rid of her.

Aiden decided it would be a good time to move Celia to her bed. He carefully slid his legs out from underneath her and turned the TV and a few lights off before gently Picking Celia up. He carried her through in to her room taking care not to knock her head or feet against anything on the way. She briefly woke up as Aiden passed through her bedroom door then set her down on her bed. He was just about to head back in to the living room when he felt a hand grab his wrist.

'Aiden.' Celia murmured whilst still half asleep. 'Stay with me.'

He didn't want to leave her, not like this. Not when she was in this state. He complied with her request and lay down on the bed beside her. Celia rolled over and buried her head in to his chest.

'Thank you… Aiden.' She whispered.

Seconds later, Aiden felt something warm and wet soak through his shirt. Celia was crying again. He simply held her hand as she eventually drifted back to sleep.

Celia woke the day after to find herself lying on top of her bed linen and not in her bed, with her clothes from yesterday still on. She could hear that her television was on in her living room and a faint clattering noise coming from her kitchen. She groggily stood up from her bed and made her way through to see Aiden stood with nothing but a towel wrapped round his waist; hammering buttons on her coffee machine as it didn't appear to be working. Celia wandered over to his side and slammed her fist down on top of the coffee machine. It instantly spluttered to life and coffee began trickling in to the jug.

'There's a knack to it y'know.' Celia mumbled then shuffled over to her table. She pulled a chair out, sat down then lit a cigarette. Aiden soon appeared with a mug of coffee for her. She had left her bag by the table last night so she picked it up and took her phone out. She had a text from her mother around half past one this morning saying that Corrina's surgery had gone well and she had taken Lucy back home to stay with her for a while. Lucy's parents lived in California and she didn't have any relatives in Chicago so June had invited her to stay. They had gone home early that morning after Corrina had come out of surgery and were planning on going back to the hospital soon as soon as they called to say she was waking up. Celia was planning on going round as soon as she sorted herself out as she looked an absolute mess right now. She also wanted to call by Corrina and Lucy's apartment on the way to pick some of their stuff up. Lucy would need some clothes and Corrina would need some things for whilst she was in hospital.

'How are you feeling now?' Aiden asked her as he sat down at the table with a mug of coffee.

'I've been better.' Celia mumbled.

'Well I can take you up to the hospital in a bit.'

'I'd appreciate that Aiden.'

It went quiet again. Then Celia thought of something.

'Aiden, why are you so good to me? She quizzed.

'I don't want to see you hurt again Celia.'

Celia was quite taken back by Aiden's straightforward answer. So much so; the only thing she could muster as a reply was "hmm."

Celia showered, got dressed and put a bit of make-up on whilst Aiden sat waiting for her. She didn't take too long getting ready which wasn't so bad so they were soon in the car ready to stop by her sisters apartment and grab some thing. Celia found two small suitcases; one in Lucy's room and one in Corrina's room and filled them with some clothes and toiletries. It wasn't hard to find the stuff that Lucy had asked her to collect as she was quite tidy and things like her cosmetics and toiletries were all in colourful little bags. She wasn't too bothered about clothes so Celia just picked her out a few things. She packed some nighties and pyjamas for her sister and a few comfy clothes then quickly made her way back to the car where Aiden was waiting after locking the door. The hospital wasn't far so they got there quickly. Aiden offered to carry the cases in and followed Celia up to the ward her sister was on. Celia's mother had texted her earlier to say that she and Lucy were already there in ward eight and that Corrina had finally woken up.

Celia had nearly crashed in to Lucy who had wandered back from some vending machines carrying coffee for herself and Celia's mother.

'I'd give you a hug right now Celia but I got these.' Lucy said as she held up the two plastic cups.

'Don't worry, it's good to see you. How's your nose?'

'Sore, but not as bad as it was last night. It's nothing really especially after what Corrie's been through.'

'I can't wait to see her.'

'She's just in here.' Said Lucy as she gestured toward a room just a few yards away. Celia followed her in with Aiden tagging behind with the two cases. He put them down in the corner of the room as Celia hurried over to her sister's bedside and planted a light kiss on her head.

'Hey sis' Corrina croaked.

'Hey you.' Celia replied back. She smiled down at her baby sister who was heavily bruised around her face and still had half of Google's server room attached to her and beeping away.

Corrina tried focusing on the figure stood by the door to her room who seemed to be turning away to leave.

'Is that, Aiden?' Corrina mumbled. 'Aiden come here.'

Celia shuffled over a bit as Aiden come to stand beside her.

'Aiden please say you're going back out with my sister again she needs a man in her life and we all actually kinda liked you a lot more than all the other assholes she brought home or whatever. Is it warm in here? I'm really warm is there a heater on?'

Corrina was awake but it didn't mean that she was with it.

'What have they got you on sis?' Celia asked Corrina after listening to her witter on whilst barely taking a breath.

'Morphine.' Corrina slurred out as she tried lifting up her arm which had an IV shoved in to it. 'It's awe..some stuff. Aiden do you want some morphine its really really really good!'

'No thanks Corrie I'm good.' Aiden smiled at her. 'It's all yours.'

'Oh good 'cause I really think I kinda err don't wanna share any.'

* * *

Aiden and Celia stayed in the hospital for a good half hour as Corrina had fallen back asleep. They left shortly after a doctor had come to talk to Celia and her mother about how long Corrina would have to stay in. If everything was alright and she healed well then she may be out in a fortnight to three weeks. Her ribs were in bad shape and her collapsed lung would take plenty of time to heal. Her stab wound however was fine, the blade hadn't hit anything vital but she did loose quite a bit of blood. Celia though wanted to be able to visit her as much as possible whilst she was in hospital so she made a not to herself to ring Charlie to see if she could get some time off or at least change her shifts round again.

Aiden took Celia home, he parked up outside her apartment building.

'Aiden I can't thank you enough.'

'No need to thank me Celia. I'm just glad your sister is gonna be okay.'

It went quiet between the two till Aiden spoke up again.

'I'm quite curious to know why you never asked me why I wanted your CtOS programming files.'

'Y'know Aiden, I don't want to know. They're all yours now. I did my part on that project then was cut from everything when I was jailed.'

'Fair enough.'

Aiden and Celia said their goodbyes. She was sure he'd be round again at some point or she'd see him on television again but when that would be, she didn't know. Celia made her way in to her apartment and made some calls. She rang her boss who was more than understanding and allowed her to have the rest of the week off from work after hearing what had happened to Corrina; he even changed her shifts around so she had time to go visit her sister in the hospital in the morning. She even caught a bus later that afternoon back to the hospital to see her sister for the last hour of visiting time before taking her mother and Lucy out for dinner. Poor Lucy was having a hard time breathing with all the strapping around her broken nose and Celia's mother June was pushing food around her plate till Celia made her eat. They weren't out for long as they were all pretty exhausted so they went their separate ways after they had dessert. Celia was back in her apartment again on her own, sprawled across her couch in her pj's with a glass of whisky, watching shitty television. She fell asleep at some point halfway through watching some soppy chick-flick, not realising just exactly how tired she was. She was however rudely awakened at twenty minutes to two in the morning by a loud banging on her door. She sleepily staggered over and opened her door to find Aiden stood there clutching his left arm.

'Oh my God Aiden what's happened now?' Celia exclaimed as Aiden shuffled past her. He shook off his coat on the way and let it fall to the floor.

'I caught a fucking bullet.' Aiden hissed as he sat himself down at the kitchen table. Celia was about to play nurse again. She dove in front of her under sink cupboard and brought out her now very well used first aid kit then laid it on the table. She brought out a few things she needed and laid them down. If Aiden had taken a bullet then she'd definitely need her pointed nose pliers. She brought them out of the box and took them over to her cooker stove top. She turned on one of the gas hobs and ran the ends of the pliers through the flames for a few seconds then turned the gas off. She waited for the metal of the pliers to cool down a bit then found some cotton wool and alcohol. She wiped the ends of the pliers just to take off the charring from running them through the fire from the hob.

'Let me see.' Celia said as she pointed at Aiden's sweater, the arm now tainted red from his blood. He slowly took his sweater off trying not to move his arm too much and eventually got down to his t-shirt. Celia eyed up the wound on Aiden's arm.

'I think you got lucky there, it's only a .22 bullet.' She said as she inspected the wound closer.

'Could have fooled me it feels like I've been shot with an elephant gun.' Aiden winced.

'Well lets get it out then, it shouldn't be too hard.' Celia said. She grabbed a small length of gauze bandage and tied it round the top part of Aiden's arm as a make-shift tourniquet. The bullet was embedded on the outside of his arm and it looked like it hadn't travelled in that far so it would be easily reachable with a bit of coaxing and some intervention with the pliers if it didn't want to co-operate. It was only a small bullet so hopefully the damage it caused wasn't too severe. At least it wasn't near Aiden's Brachial artery. There wasn't as much blood coming out but there soon would be when the bullet came out.

Aiden braced himself as he watched Celia edge the chair she was sat on closer to his side to get a better view of what she was doing. She grabbed a few latex surgical gloves out of the first aid kit then snapped them on to her hands. Celia thought that it may be possible to squeeze the bullet out with a bit of manipulation, as when she held up the pointed nose pliers closer to the entry wound it was obvious she'd make even more of a mess trying to get the pliers in to get the bullet out. She tossed the pliers back on to the kitchen table then reached over Aiden to find a pair of long pointed tweezers. She didn't even warn him when she poked the tweezers in to the entry wound but it earned a loud groan and several expletives from Aiden.

'Gauze and Betadine.' Celia said as she concentrated on the wound. She dug around a bit more in the wound as Aiden gasped and groaned, trying to find the items Celia had requested in the first aid kit. He managed to find what she asked for and put them on the table ready for her to use in-between all of his swearing and sharp intakes of breath. She had the gauze in her left hand and with one last sharp tug with her right hand on the tweezers; the bullet was out and Aiden screamed "FUCK" as Celia threw the bullet down on the table with the tweezers. She quickly covered the entry wound that had now started to bleed a bit with the gauze and instructed Aiden to hold it in place with his right hand. Celia gave him a few minutes whilst she cleared away some of the things she had used then fished out a curved needle to thread up ready to put a few stitches in. Aiden rested his head in his right hand when Celia took over holding down the gauze on the wound. The bleeding had begun to subside so after cleaning it with some of the Betadine and drying it off, she set about putting in a few stitches. At this rate, Celia's first aid box would soon be empty; she'd need to stock up again at some point. Two stitches and a quick swipe over with more Betadine and everything was done.

'Aiden I can't keep seeing you in this state. You need to be more careful.'

'I know.'

'I don't want to see you badly hurt or even killed, you really really should just… just promise me you won't let it happen agai…'

Celia had been cut off from finishing what she had to say. Aiden had brought his lips to hers which shut her up instantly. He brought his hands up and caressed the sides of her head, smoothing his thumbs under her eyes as they separated from their kiss; tears had begun forming in Celia's eyes. Aiden rested his forehead against Celia's, he was breathing heavily now.

'I've wanted to do that for so long.' Aiden panted. Celia had almost gone in to shock.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everybody! How are you all doing? :)**

**So here's the next chapter, bit of a short filler-ish one though! I may even have another one up soon but that's depending on how tired I get. I've had a busy day today so I want to write as much as possible.**

**Thanks to MissAlisterCroft for leaving me another message. :) I'm glad you liked the ending. I'm planning on advancing the story soon so keep an eye out for that!**

**And to my other readers, please message me, leave a review, favourite and follow and you'll get a shout-out. I'd love to hear from you all and hear what you think! **

**Peace – Deeny xxxx**

* * *

'Aiden are you watching me sleep again?'

'No.'

Celia smirked then slowly opened her eyes to find Aiden grinning at her as he lied, saying he wasn't watching her sleep when he actually was. It was one of his favourite things to do when he woke before Celia did as she always looked so peaceful and serene. She would always snuggle closer to him and he would wrap his arms around her tightly then kiss her forehead. Every time he stayed at Celia's they would wake up like this, though most mornings they never had the chance to just stay there as Celia would have to get up at some point and get ready for work. It soon changed though when she was promoted to a higher position at work and she could actually do most of it from home. All she had to do then was go to work for the odd meeting or check in with the rest of her team to see how they were doing.

While she was at work, Aiden would stay in Celia's apartment and run some of the programmes she had written. One which was a work of pure genius; a hacking programme that would deduct two dollars fifty from the bank account of people who had recently used an ATM making it look like there was a service charge on their monthly statement. All Aiden had to do was establish a connection to a banks main information servers then let the programme loose and it did the rest. Celia's forte was security and she always did a good job of breaking the security of any system she tried to enter. She knew how everything worked and how long it would take before a break in was spotted. As a person who wrote computer security software and everything else in between she knew every single back door and loophole that could be exploited. And exploit them she did. Aiden could leave her ATM service charge programme running for a few hours whilst he showered and made himself breakfast and hundreds of people could be hacked, making Aiden and Celia several hundred dollars. The money went in to an off shore bank account with a phoney company name which was then laundered by a friend of hers for a cut of the profits. The couple would end up with stacks of cash by the end of it all. Nobody ever suspected Celia would be capable of anything like that but she was a very talented, albeit bored woman. She longed for excitement and a bit of danger in her life at that time instead of being sat behind a computer all day every day for the rest of her career, getting fat and square-eyed. And that is what attracted her to Aiden. Whilst he had the skills also, together they were a force to be reckoned with. Aiden was not just a thief but a hacktivist too and Celia was more than willing to join his crusade.

Celia was more than just a lover and a partner in crime to Aiden though. She was essentially his rock. He had done eleven months in Cook Country so he knew what it was like inside. But that never bothered Celia in the slightest; she always stood by him in everything he did. If there was ever a competition for thugs to show off their girlfriends or wives then Aiden would be there making sure Celia got first prize. She was always there to patch his wounds and care for him, provide him comfort and more importantly; be a friend to him. Things he hadn't had at all since his wife passed. And even now after being absent from her life for a very long time, she was still there for him even if she was slightly hostile toward him in the beginning. Celia could never stay mad at him for long. A flash of his cheeky grin and crystal green eyes and she'd forget why she was angry at him. Most times at least.

* * *

Celia wandered home after work and got to her apartment building at around quarter past nine. She was exhausted and her feet were sore after running around all evening and all she wanted to do was sit down and chill out for the rest of the evening. She walked out of the elevator and along the hallway to her apartment to find a large box sat outside. As she got closer she found that her name was written on it in black marker pen, much like the box that was left outside her door a while ago. It was another present from Aiden. Celia opened her door then picked the box up. It was a lot heavier than it looked so she hurried inside then put it down on her kitchen table. She used her house keys to score the tape across the box to get it open to find another box inside. She had to chuckle to herself when she pulled everything out, it was a brand new coffee machine.

Normally she wasn't one for accepting gifts from anybody, but she had to admit that Aiden always did buy her nice gifts. Back in the day he did spoil her a lot. He always got Celia nice jewellery, perfume and sometimes shoes but he did bring her back an odd gift every so often. The infamous popcorn machine was one of those. During a night snuggling on the sofa together watching TV; Celia mentioned that she was craving popcorn but she didn't have any in as she never bought it all the time. The day after, Celia had gone to work for a few hours giving Aiden the chance to go out and buy a popcorn machine. He set it up on her kitchen counter ready for her to use and she noticed it as soon as she walked in. Aiden however had managed to break it within the week.

Celia took the coffee machine out of the box and put everything together ready to use. She would accept this gift has the coffee machine she had was old and on its last legs and refused to work ninety percent of the time so she did need a new one; she just didn't have the time to get round to buying one. Celia was expecting Aiden to turn up at some point, exactly when she had no idea. Aiden had a habit of popping up out of nowhere at random times especially when Celia least expected it. She figured it would be later rather than sooner as she hadn't seen him in a few weeks since he came to her after he got shot.

And kissed her.

That night often replayed in her mind. He kissed her after she had patched him up; telling her that he had wanted to do it for a long time. He swiftly left after he did, leaving Celia dumbfounded for a few moments as he walked through the door. It took her a while to come back down to earth and call after him, but he had already left. And that was the last time she saw him. She had barely seen him on TV either, maybe the odd appearance or so but it seemed like he was trying to keep out of the spotlight again. Celia was ridiculously confused about Aiden since he came back on the scene. Whilst she initially hated him this feeling had somewhat left her and was replaced by something she probably shouldn't be feeling at all; attraction. She did love Aiden more than what was healthy back in the day and she was the type of woman who would walk barefoot over broken glass for him. But she had grown since then and her stint in prison had changed her too. But she couldn't deny the feeling she had deep in the pit of her stomach. She still cared for him, but had denied herself that fact. Celia fought the confused thoughts and feeling to the back of her mind whenever they cropped up, she always had some more pressing matters to deal with; such as her brother. With Flannigan and his henchmen behind bars, Nicky was now no longer under fire and was left to continue with his gambling problem. She still had quite a bit of money left from the last time she was saving up a payment for Flannigan, so Celia had bit the bullet and booked her brother in to a rehab centre that dealt with various other addictions other thank alcohol or drugs. Even after telling her brother to sort out his own problems, she just couldn't leave him as he was. She was going to drag him in to rehab whether he liked it or not.

Celia really wanted a nice mug of coffee from the new machine Aiden had sent her to relax with whilst she watched a bit of TV before she went to bed, hoping it would take her mind off things. Tough luck for her though, she had no coffee for the machine in her house so she had to settle for instant. Her thoughts wandered back to Aiden, he should bring her some coffee to put in the damn machine next time she saw him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey folks!**

**AGH SORRY I HAVEN'T PUT THIS OUT SOONER! I've been a bit busy, plus I found this really difficult to write. I was going to publish this chapter last night but my internet connection went down. It's back on now, but I've posted this when I got a break at work. Hope you all enjoy it, it's a bit filthy. ;)**

**Shout outs to MissAlisterCroft for leaving me another fab review and also to Lila Meer for the follow! :D**

**So read on everyone! Please leave a comment, message or fave and follow if you have a spare moment. Love you all! :)**

**Peace. –Deeny xxxx**

* * *

Celia and her sister Corrina were catching up with family members they hadn't seen in a long time. It was their Aunt May's sixty-sixth birthday which was being held at the Hard Rock Hotel and was quite a lavish affair; all planned and booked by Celia's cousin John who was Aunt May's eldest son. John was a specialist neuro-surgeon and he travelled the world with his job; attending lots of medical conferences and the like. He definitely wasn't short of money that's for sure. There were at least two hundred people in attendance, most of which were family of some variety but a good chunk of the guests were either friends, ex co-workers or plus ones. Tables lined the function room surrounding a huge dance floor in the middle where a few people were attempting to strut their stuff. Celia and Corrina had other plans though. They stood near the bar with their drinks and just watched everybody, chatting with an Aunt, Uncle or a cousin they hadn't seen for years whenever they came to talk. It was nice to see everyone again and it was also nice for them both the get dressed up and go have some fun. It was especially nice for Corrina who had only been out of hospital for a few days after spending well over a month in there. She was still a bit sore, but she could handle it.

'Is that the dress that gran left you?' Corrina asked her sister.

'Yeah it is. Never really had the chance to wear it so I figured that tonight is as good a night as any.' Celia replied as she tugged one side of her dress. Celia and Corrina's grandmother on their mother's side had left her grandkids some money in her will as well as a few material possessions of hers. Corrina had received some of her oriental rugs and some jewellery. Celia had received jewellery and a beautiful black floor-length silk dress. It was a fairly simple dress but it looked fabulous on Celia even though she never really wore dresses like it or even felt comfortable wearing them. The dress was very low cut down the back and thin silk straps which crossed over the back and tied at the neck held it in place. She just needed the straps to get caught on something and it would practically fall off her, which was making her more uncomfortable so she didn't move around much that evening. This was the third time in around four years that she had worn a nice dress. The last time was at a family members wedding that she went to with Aiden and before then she wore a dress when Aiden took her out on their second date to a fancy restaurant.

* * *

'You look absolutely beautiful Celia.'

'Thank you. I have to say you scrub up quite well yourself Aiden.'

Aiden had taken Celia to a two star Michelin restaurant for their second date. One of the only other times that Celia wore a dress and Aiden wore a suit which Celia did admit that he looked pretty hot in. The couple wined and dined that evening in lovely surroundings with immaculate service and nice food of which there was very little of but could easily pass as works of art. While they did enjoy being there and they enjoyed each other's company; they both knew it wasn't really them. Plus the miniscule food portions didn't satisfy them either so when they left the restaurant they ended up in a diner down the road where the food was cheap but you got plenty for your money. That night, they vowed never again to go to somewhere that fancy that you felt the need to stuff your face in a greasy diner afterwards or didn't even dare ask the waiter for beer instead of expensive wine or champagne for fear of being laughed out of the place.

Celia always remembered the good times she had with Aiden; never the bad times though when she tried thinking of any bad times she couldn't. They never really had any bad times. Right now she was stood in the middle of her Aunt May's party smiling away to herself feeling quite nostalgic. Aiden had done so much for her since he returned; she was even thinking she should give him a second chance should it ever arise. Celia loved Aiden a lot in the past and she was warming to him all over again now. He was still as handsome and charming as ever he hadn't really changed in that department. But he still lived life on the edge and had that element of danger about him that Celia found quite sexy.

Celia shook herself out of her daydream as one of her other aunts was tapping her on the shoulder. She was brought in to a huge hug; not knowing exactly who it was until she was released. It was her Aunt April, the youngest aunt on her mother's side. Celia's Grandmother named all her daughters after months of the year and this trait had somewhat passed down to Celia's mother; who gave her daughters names beginning with the letter C and her sons had names beginning with the letter N. Celia was now entertaining her Aunt April who had slung a barrage of questions at her as she eyed up the dress Celia was wearing; recognising that it had belonged to her mother.

'So you don't have a boyfriend with you this evening that I should know about Celia?' Aunt April asked her. It was making Celia a little bit nervous. Aunt April always tried to get the gossip and stay in the loop and she certainly wasn't backward at coming forward about getting said gossip.

'I'm afraid not Auntie April, I'm here with Corrina tonight.' Celia replied as she tried looking for her sister who had snuck off when she saw Aunt April approaching, obviously not wanting to be interrogated. Celia spotted her over by the buffet table loading a plate up and stuffing her face as she went.

'Well you want to get yourself a man Celia honey. Time's ticking y'know you can't leave it too late.'

'Yes I know Auntie April.'

'And I hope you're staying out of trouble Celia, not on the wrong side of the law?'

Celia really wanted to escape right now. Nobody else in her family ever really mentioned her little prison stay except Aunt April. It was almost like she had no shame. Celia wouldn't have minded so much if she interrogated other members of their family like this as a few of them had been in trouble with the law at some point and they never got the grilling she did.

'What happened to that handsome fellow you were courting before you ended up in jail?'

'We split up Auntie April.'

'Oh that's a shame. And here was me hoping you two were still together after all that business.'

'Auntie April will you excuse me for a second, just off to the Ladies room.'

'Oh okay, hurry back sweetie.'

Celia walked as fast as her shoes would allow her and made a bee line for the Ladies room, hoping to get a few moments peace away from her Aunt April's incessant questioning. She opened up a clutch purse she had with her and re-applied her lipstick and smoothed out a few strands of her hair that had come loose from her up-do. Stepping back away from the sink counter she checked her dress in the mirror and smoothed it out over her hips. Hopefully now she had hidden long enough to venture back to the party and with any luck would find her Aunt April busy talking to someone else. Sure enough Aunt April was now quizzing Celia's cousin Christopher who looked positively bored with answering her questions.

* * *

It was getting later on in the evening now and everybody was having a good time. The huge buffet was going down a treat but the hotel staff were doing a good job of replacing all the food that had been eaten. Plus they were doing a good job of keeping everybody topped up with drinks. The party was in full swing until John had found a microphone and gave a quick speech thanking everyone for coming and that he had one more surprise for his mother. Two of the hotel staff had appeared beside him wheeling in a trolley with a huge four-tier birthday cake, lavishly decorated with various sugar-craft flowers. There were loads of candles lining the cake which had been lit before it was brought out and it made the cake look like it was on fire there were that many candles.

As if on cue, everybody began singing happy birthday to Aunt May who was smiling and wiping away the odd tear that escaped her eyes.

Then the power went out, leaving only the light from the candles on the cake illuminating the middle of the room. Everybody was letting out gasps and had instantly begun bringing out their cellphones to try to provide some kind of light to see where they were. Panic had begun to spread among the party guests but John soon had everyone under control. Members of staff were busy running around trying to find what was going on. As it turned out, most of the neighbourhood was in darkness. Seconds had passed, then minutes and the power still hadn't come back on. After a while, people had actually started to leave even when back-up generators had finally kicked in which didn't provide enough power to run everything like mains electricity could. But at least they could have the lights on to some extent so everybody could see where they were going.

Celia and her sister had eventually managed to flag a taxi down and split the fare between them. Corrina lived closer to the hotel so she was home a lot sooner than her sister who still had at least ten or fifteen minutes before she reached her apartment. She watched the world outside through the cab window, everywhere was practically in darkness, even Celia's neighbourhood was dark when she eventually jumped out of the taxi and paid the fare. She used her phone to provide a measly amount of light as she tried to unlock the door in to her apartment condo using her keys. The door's security panel wasn't working due to the power outage. She had a key-card which you could wave in front of the panel to open the main condo door instead of using a regular key to get in but it was obviously not working. Celia had managed to get in and eventually climbed the three flights of stairs to her apartment's floor. Still in total darkness; Celia unlocked her door and made her way over to her kitchen knowing she had a box of candles in the cupboard under her sink. After a few minutes of dragging out cleaning products and various other things; she found the box and began lighting the candles. Soon after she had lit a few she could see a lot better. She hated being in complete darkness it creeped her out more than anything else.

Celia dotted around eight candles of various sizes round her apartment just so she could at least see where she was going, especially in her bedroom and bathroom. She really wanted a nice hot cup of tea before she got ready for bed but she would be able to boil some water in a pan on her gas stove. She bent down to retrieve a small pan from one of her cupboards only to snap back up in pure fear; as she felt a warm hand snaking up her back. She froze but dropped the pan she was holding. Celia stood rigid as she felt the heat from another body creep closer to hers and warm breath on her ear.

'Candlelight makes your eyes sparkle.' Said the voice.

Celia was still stood as rigid as a board from fear even though she now knew who it was.

'Aiden.' She croaked; her voice hoarse from the scare she had. Celia slowly turned around and focused on Aiden's face, lit by the dim candle light. His green eyes looked fierce and made him look hungered.

Celia was about to open her mouth to talk only for her lips to be denied by Aiden's. He kissed her with such passion and ferocity that Celia had a hard time resisting. She managed to tear him away from her, only to look at him; that same animalistic look was still in his eyes. Celia grabbed Aiden's sweater and swiftly yanked him toward her to kiss him with the same aggression. She pushed him in the direction of her bedroom as she fumbled around trying to shove Aiden's heavy overcoat off him and pull his thick sweater off over his head. The two continued aggressively kissing each other as they slowly, but roughly made their way over to Celia's room in the candlelit darkness. She had managed to strip Aiden's torso of all his clothing and was now unbuckling his belt, spurred on by the fact she could feel him getting hard against her. Aiden though had found where Celia's dress was tied at the back and swiftly tugged on the silk; Celia's dress fell off her in a split second leaving her naked save for her panties. Aiden wanted her more and more as he felt her bare skin against his. He quickly removed the rest of his clothing as they crashed through in to Celia's bedroom to which he flung her on the bed. He climbed on to her, noticing the look of need and lust in her eyes before penetrating her; earning a sharp gasp from her as he did.

Aiden was urged on by Celia's gasps and moans of his name. It made him remember that this was one of the reasons he loved this woman many years ago. They could please each other on a level that nobody else could. Aiden remembered another reason he adored Celia as she had turned the tables on him by kicking him off then lowering herself on to his erect member so she could take control.

Celia knew damn well what she was doing. Aiden hated being out of control in all aspects, but especially during sex. He had no say in the matter right now as Celia had him where she wanted him and kept him there with her powerful legs and swathes of pleasure, which washed over Aiden as she rocked back and forth. It took a while before he gained the strength to flip Celia over so he was on top and back in control. He quickened his pace as he watched sweat bead on Celia's skin and her cheeks flush bright red even in the dim candlelight, signalling she was near climax. She screamed within a few minutes after climaxing; grasping tightly on to the sheets of her bed. Aiden climaxed shortly after her, nearly collapsing on top of Celia. He lay beside her for a few moments before he tugged her shaking body next to his. Aiden cradled her in his arms feeling her shaking subside gradually as she drifted off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! Long time no see!**

**I'll make this short. Sorry I haven't been around for a while (work, crappy excuse though) but I'm back now with a bit of short filler whilst I decide where this is all going. Please if all of you who read this have a minute to spare, can I request some feedback? I'd love to know what you all think so I can do any necessary tweaking to it.**

**Shout outs go to Morbid Crow, Ololorocky and POSCNano for the faves and follows. :) And a special Hello to MissAlisterCroft, hope you're doing well!**

**Like always please fave, follow and comment if you have a moment. Let me know what you all think or just say hi! :)**

**Peace.**

**Deeny xx**

* * *

'_Oh hello again Detective Carroway, what a delight to see you again.'_

'_Good afternoon Ms. Fleming. Have you been keeping well?'_

'_As well as I can be considering I'm in prison.'_

'_You have a point there.'_

'_Cut to the chase Detective. You've come to question me about Aiden again, haven't you?'_

'_Yes.'_

'_You still can't find him can you?'_

'_No.'_

'_I told you before, when Aiden doesn't want to be found; he doesn't want to be found.'_

'_I'm beginning to believe that.'_

'_I can't really help you there Detective. It's kinda hard keeping track of people when you're in jail.'_

'_Well can I ask you some more questions about him? We don't have much on file.'_

'_Fire away.'_

'_How would you best describe Aiden Ms. Fleming; his personality, his temperament.'_

'_Trying to profile him huh?'_

'_Something like that.'_

'_Hmmm, the words secretive and private come to mind. Calculating too.'_

'_Please continue.'_

'_I suppose he can be hot-headed at times, focused, relentless. But above all he's loyal, charming, kind too if you can believe that and smart; very, very smart.'_

'_Anything else?'_

'_Unpredictable.'_

'_That doesn't really help the other words you used to describe him make any sense Ms. Fleming.'_

'_I could sit here and go through the dictionary and use ninety-eight percent of the words in it to describe Aiden Detective. It's just pot-luck on which Aiden you get at that moment in time.'_

'_Very well Ms. Fleming. I think that's all for now.'_

'_It's been a pleasure as always Detective.'_

* * *

'_Unpredictable indeed.' _Celia thought. She had been busy daydreaming at work as she idly watched the few customers they had in that night. Celia had no idea why she was daydreaming about her stay in jail and all the visits she got from Detective Carroway. In fact she had no idea why she had been daydreaming about a lot of things recently. One that really confused her happened when she was attempting to watch TV on her last day off. Celia daydreamed about the time that the company she used to work for Teknologikal Systems; went in to administration and everybody who worked for them nearly ended up being made redundant. That was until the Blume Corporation who had originally contracted them to create the CtOS decided to buy the company. Celia though was under the employ of the Blume Corporation for all of a few months before she was arrested. Then a few months in to her jail time; CtOS went live. The project was Celia's baby when she was working on it what with being lead programmer and designer. Her bosses were the ones who put her forward to the people at Blume and after seeing her work portfolio; decided to hire her services. She hated the fact that she never got to complete her work, but even in her absence her team had managed to finish it off without her; albeit quite a while after its supposed completion date. Though after getting out of prison, Celia soon found out that the Blume Corporation were using her creation for much more than what was intended and she wasn't entirely pleased.

Celia did often wonder what Aiden was doing with the programming code she gave him. He was talented enough to go through it and find parts that could be exploited but she just knew that he had his network of shady friends working on it too. The electric grid cutting out like it did a while ago was evident of the fact that there was a break in to the system. But even then it would take time to go through the original coding, find the loopholes then find a way past all the beefed up security and patches that would have been updated since Celia last had her hands on it.

Celia shook her head as if she was trying to rid herself of the thoughts flying around in there. All she wanted to do when she got home and chill out before she went to bed. Celia and Jason were behind the bar trying to decide what to put on the TV. She told Jason to stop on a news channel so they could see what had been happening in the world whilst they had been in work for the past Lord only knows how long. There were a few stories in the news that weren't all that interesting, but during one of the ad-breaks it mentioned that there would be a documentary on at ten o'clock about the recent rise of hacking and cyber-crimes with a special section on Chicago's resident vigilante. Celia knew that the authorities still had no real idea that it was Aiden but now it seemed they knew that he was a hacker. _'Took them long enough.' _Celia thought.

* * *

At least she had something to watch on TV when she got home and she'd be able to have a laugh at Aiden's own little segment of the show. She hadn't seen him since the blackout, the night they also made love; which was weeks ago. Celia was in two minds on if he was occupied with something, or if he was keeping his distance from her, but she wouldn't know until she saw him again. Celia did eventually admit to herself from time to time that she was becoming slightly smitten with Aiden again. It would probably be her downfall but she was partial to a bad-boy. She wasn't exactly an angel herself either. Anybody she ever knew who got a glimpse of her nasty violent side usually ended up in shock from the fact that tiny Celia could even do anything violent.

But now she had to keep her fists to herself for fear of having the police called on her for assault, which would mean a trip straight back to jail. So long as she behaved she would be all right. The Vigilante on the other hand though had a warrant out for his arrest even though the authorities had no idea who he was. It was only a matter of time before they figured it all out. Celia often heard people discussing Aiden the Vigilante whenever she was standing in line at the supermarket, working at the bar or having breakfast at a café. She was surprised to hear that the majority were in his favour as they all seemed to say "He gets the job done." While that was the case the same people would always follow up with a comment about how violent he was. Obviously the Police were after him and he did everything in his power not to get caught; but he always did uproot some shady underworld deal that had been going on or leave them a gift of a wanted criminal they had been after. But violence was something that went with the territory. Celia did often hear the odd person saying that the Vigilante, was making the Chicago Police Department look bad by digging up criminals that had been on the wanted list for years whom they never even managed to track down; never mind arrest.

Aiden, The Vigilante; was often called a "Superhero." The public did generally think that he was doing what he does for the good of all. But Celia knew the truth. Aiden was a vengeful man. His own mission came first. But Celia also knew that deep down in amongst all the angst, revenge and violence that there was a good man who wouldn't let an innocent suffer at the hand of the same kind of people who messed his life up.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again folks!**

**Another chapter for you. This time a bit more through Aiden's eyes. I hope you all enjoy it. :)**

**Thanks again to MissAlisterCroft for leaving me a fab message about the last chapter! I'm so glad to be back! Can't wait to read the next part of your story. :)**

**So like always folks, please fave and follow and all that good stuff. Reviews are much appreciated. Or you could just leave me a message if you wanna chat! **

**Peace. – Deeny xxxx**

* * *

Aiden's safe-house wasn't exactly the most comfortable of places. He resided most of the time in the back rooms of an abandoned fabrication workshop. The main shop floor was still littered with pieces of old machinery that had been left behind; obviously of no value and several mounds of scrap metal that showed age with the sheer amount of rust that had built up over the past few years. The main shop floor was in fact a tetanus nightmare waiting to happen. But Aiden had made the back rooms somewhat liveable. There was a shower room for the workers use, a fairly large staff room where Aiden had set up his computers and a room that must have been some kind of office before the building was abandoned, which Aiden used as a make-shift bedroom. He did find an old bedframe and an old mattress which he dragged in and covered with loads of blankets, it was a lot more comfortable than just sleeping on a mattress on the floor. The staff room also had an old gas fire hidden in the corner which came in handy when it got extra cold, but other than that. There was nothing more. The shower water was always tepid and never hot. There were no windows either but Aiden saw that as an advantage as nobody could peek in. Aiden had even blocked up the doors from the back to prevent any of the neighbourhood weirdoes from wandering in. It was pretty secure and served as the perfect base for Aiden's operations.

The only time Aiden did ever get any comfort was on the odd occasion that he stayed round at Celia's apartment, even if he did only crash on her sofa. Her apartment was always cosy and welcoming, she always had hot water and nice clean, fluffy towels and if she was in a good mood; Celia would sometimes cook dinner and Aiden would enjoy having a nice home-cooked meal in his belly instead of his usual fare of instant ramen and greasy take-out. Celia always said to him that he should take better care of himself, but right now he wasn't exactly in the position to do so. He had brought it on himself mostly. Aiden did think from time to time that it was nice having Celia back in his life, she did care for him immensely when they were together all those years ago and she did look after him. But she was somewhat hostile to him in the beginning when he came back and rightly so. He could tell she was warming to him again which made Aiden think about the bad side of it all. He had a lot of people after him, who would love to have his head on a platter but they wouldn't see Celia as a close acquaintance of his; they'd see her as collateral. Celia was the only woman in his life after his wife was killed and he genuinely did love her. He didn't want to bring her back in to this world of his but there was a chance that even if he didn't get back in touch with her she still may be targeted anyway. A Catch-22 situation; get Celia involved again and possibly risk her being hurt or leave her alone and possibly risk her getting hurt.

The thinking was beginning to make Aiden's head hurt. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose thinking it would relieve some of the tension. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and looked back at one of his computer monitors before tapping at the keyboard in front of him. The speakers sat aside the monitor crackled to life as he watched the live feed of Celia's apartment he brought up on the monitor. She was doing her usual day off cleaning and singing rather loudly to Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones whilst dancing around with a noisy vacuum cleaner in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She spun around in her black panties and black camisole, flinging cigarette ash everywhere only to hoover over it when she noticed it was all over the floor. When she did spin round and faced her laptop; Aiden could see she was trying to emulate Mick Jagger as best she could by puckering out her lips when she was singing and doing his strange strutting duck walk. Aiden couldn't help but smile and chuckle at her. She did always manage to make him laugh; a thing that rarely happened. He watched Celia as she stopped dancing around and turned the vacuum cleaner off before quickly running over to her laptop to turn her music down then back over to her table to pick up her ringing phone.

* * *

'_Hey mum. Yeah, oh day off today so I'm cleaning.'_

Aiden continued to watch as she paced around a bit and then eventually leant on the back of one of her chairs.

'_Bill's Diner? Yeah it's not far, never been though… Yeah I've heard about their chilli. Sure mum just let me get ready and I'll meet you there. Yeah, okay. Bye mum!'_

Celia laid her phone back down on the table before she dashed in to her bathroom. Aiden could hear her dropping bottles as she was obviously in a rush to get ready and was knocking everything off the shelves. A few minutes later she rushed out of the bathroom now fully clothed. She wandered over to her laptop to switch it off to which Aiden noticed she had put a bit of make-up on too. His live feed cut out as soon as Celia shut her laptop.

It wasn't long before Aiden had managed to hack in to Bill's Diner's CCTV system. There were only a few cameras in the entire place so he focused his attention on the camera which was situated over the diner's counter where the cash registers were and faced towards the door. A while later after watching some people leave; Celia and her mother June walked in and were greeted by one of the servers, who quickly took them over to a booth by the window and handed them some menus. Aiden changed the camera he was viewing to one closer to Celia. There was no audio to go with the feed so he brought up another hacking programme, hoping he could hack the phone he gave her and switch on the mic. A few seconds later he was in luck as Celia did have the phone switched on and in her handbag. It wasn't very loud but thankfully Celia had left the bag on the table out of the way. He just turned the volume up on his speakers a bit.

'_Shall we get the lunchtime special for two Cee Cee? I don't know about you but I don't think I could manage a full meal on my own.'_

'_I don't know if I could either mum. Lunchtime special it is.'_

'_God it feels like I haven't spoken to you in ages Celia it's been weeks since we got together.'_

'_Yeah I've been pretty busy at work. Got a few extra hours over the past few weeks.'_

'_That's good.'_

'_Yeah can't complain at the extra money.'_

'_Well I'm going away again next week.'_

'_Really mother? Bloody hell you're barely at home where you off to this time?'_

'_Barbados with the girls. We're only going for a week. I keep saying to you and your sister I'll gladly pay for you to come with us on vacation. Both of you could do with some time away.'_

'_Yeah well I'm not exactly good for travelling am I mum? I can't even go to another neighbourhood without my every move being documented.'_

'_Well you're the clever computer type, why don't you do something about it?'_

'_Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting mum?'_

'_Hey Celia, I'm just saying I think you've been well behaved for long enough now for them not to think of you as a potential threat anymore. I'm fairly sure you can erase yourself of their watch list or something.'_

Celia and June's conversation was cut short as a young blonde-haired female server had wandered over to take their order and was ready to scribble on her notepad. Aiden had started to think about what June had said.

'_So what can I get for you ladies today?'_

'_Can we have the lunchtime special for two please?'_

'_Sure no problem, how hot would you like your chilli?'_

'_Medium mum? Yes medium please.'_

'_Okay so me-di-um chilli. And what drinks can I get you?'_

'_I'll have an iced tea please dear.'_

'_I'll have one too please.'_

'_Okay so that's two iced teas, I'll bring those over for you in a minute and the lunchtime special for two, medium heat chilli. Anything else ladies?'_

'_No that's everything. Thank you.'_

'_Thank you.'_

The young girl smiled then walked off to put her order in at the kitchen and prepare Celia and June's iced teas.

'_So Cee Cee, have you seen Aiden recently?'_

'_I haven't. Not recently anyway it's been a while.'_

Aiden's ears perked up when he heard mention of his name. He tried to listen through the background noise as the server had brought over Celia and June's drinks to which they were now adding sweetener to and stirring away making the ice clink against their glasses.

'_Well I think he's a good man. We've always like Aiden in this family Celia. He was always so good to you.'_

'_Why did he leave though mum?'_

'_I don't know sweetie. Maybe that's something you should ask Aiden?'_

'_I don't know.'_

'_I know both of you were in trouble at the time he did leave but I'm sure he left for a good reason.'_

'_A reason he couldn't tell me about?'_

'_It could be that. Maybe he left without telling you to protect you from something.'_

'_I don't know mum, I never really thought about it that way.'_

'_You never know till you ask. But… Aiden isn't that callous. It must have been really serious for him to leave without telling you.'_

'_I suppose.'_

'_Here we got ladies, lunchtime special for two. Is there anything else you need?'_

'_Oh no thank you dear I think we're okay.'_

'_Okay, just give me a shout if you do need anything.'_

'_Thank you.'_

'_Oh wow Cee Cee this look good.'_

'_Mum this chilli smells amazing.'_

'_What else have we got here… Um pita bread, tortillas, mixed salad, loads of tomatoes and cucumber.'_

'_Is that sour cream there?'_

'_I think so.'_

'_Awesome.'_

* * *

Aiden cut the connection to the diners CCTV system. After hearing what Celia and her mother were talking about he knew why Celia was so pissed off at him. She always gave the impression that she was mad at him for leaving, by saying he left her then she conveniently got arrested shortly after; like it was his fault. He did admit to himself that he was partially at fault for her getting arrested but the truth was, he had left to go deal with a gang they had been messing up who eventually found out who Celia and Aiden were and were ready to erase them once and for all. Celia was arrested in the same week and Aiden who did manage to finish off most of the gang on his own was nearly taken out. Days later he found himself in a shady backstreet doctors place, heavily sedated and recovering from several bullet wounds. He never got back to Celia in time. One of the gang members who managed to get away had done the next best thing to killing Celia and that was having her incarcerated.

After deeply thinking about it; Aiden realised that it really was his entire fault that Celia was arrested. If he had told her what he was going to do, if he hadn't been so cocky in thinking he could take the gang out on his own; he wouldn't have ended up half-dead and unable to warn Celia and tell her to get out.

It was his fault.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello again my dears!**

**Another chapter for you all. I'm going to be quick here as I need to go sort some stuff out before I go to sleep, it is quite late here. Shout out to MissAlisterCroft for the fabulous messages. They make my day! :)**

**Please fave, follow and review if you have a moment folks. I'd really appreciate it. :)**

**Peace folks! – Deeny xxxxxxx**

* * *

'Ah Maria that's such a good photo! You're gonna have to send me a copy I'd like to frame it.' Celia beamed as she inspected a photo Maria had taken of her and the kids Mark and Madison. It was Madison's seventh birthday so Maria had organised a trip for the kids to Lincoln Park Zoo. Auntie Celia, Auntie Corrina and Grandma June had been invited too. They had a lovely day at the zoo looking at all the animals and taking lots of photographs. But after their zoo trip and a quick trip home to change in to some nicer clothes than jeans and sweaters; they were all sat in a pizza restaurant, eating and relaxing after their long day of walking. Mark and Madison were some of the few kids around who never wanted for expensive things; their father's gambling addiction made sure of that as all the money he ever earned was soon lost. They both soon got used to him never bringing them any gifts for their birthdays or Christmas. When Madison was told that her father wouldn't be coming to visit for her birthday, she just shrugged it off like it was a minor blip. 'I'll see daddy when I see daddy.' She just simply said. Though she did know what she wanted to do for her birthday when she was asked. Madison wanted her Aunts and Grandma June to come with her mother and brother to the zoo and she wanted pizza and cake afterwards. She was over the moon with her presents.

Of course Grandma June had spoiled her rotten and bought her a brand new Nintendo 3DS with some games but Madison was more interested in the gifts her Aunts had bought her. Corrina gave her some new clothes and a nice little silver necklace with an angel pendant on it. Celia gave her some art supplies as Madison was always drawing. So she bought her some colouring books, drawing pads and some new felt-tip pens, pencils and crayons. But the best present Madison got from Aunt Celia was a Nerf Gun. Madison laughed and giggled when she tore the wrapping paper off to reveal the Nerf Gun. 'I can play army with my brother properly now!' She exclaimed. The sweetest part of the whole day was when her elder brother Mark gave her a present; a cuddly toy bear holding a heart which read "Best Sister in the World" on the front. Madison climbed down from her chair after unwrapping the present then ran over to her brother and gave him a huge hug, earning an audible "awwww" from the adults. She soon ran back to her stack of gifts and gathered up her new colouring books and pens then ran back to her brother; pulling up a chair next to him so they could colour in together.

* * *

That day had been good for Celia. Spending time with her family. Not having to worry about work or anything. But now she was on her way to a shady part of town to meet up with Jordi in some bar he frequented called The Jet Room. It was a fairly nice place but it was in a rough area and it did attract some less favourable clientele; Jordi obviously being one of them. But Jordi had never done anything bad to Celia and she somewhat trusted him. He was good to her and never screwed her over when it came to work. She walked in to the bar and found herself quite surprised at the décor. The Jet Room was 1920's themed but quite dark with its moody, atmospheric lighting; sort of like a gothic Great Gatsby feel emitted from the black and dark green walls and black furniture. Celia instantly spotted Jordi sat at the bar, sticking out like a sore thumb against the dark décor looking like he'd just walked off the set of Miami Vice.

'Ah! Celia! A vision of loveliness.' Jordi exclaimed as Celia strode toward him. 'That dress is just fabulous.'

'Thanks Jordi. It's good to see you again.' Celia said as she lightly kissed him on the cheek then perched herself on the bar stool next to him.

Jordi raised his hand and signalled for the bartender who hurried over.

'What can I get you madam?'

'Vodka, soda and lime please.'

'Same again Sir?'

Jordi just nodded his head then finished the rest of his whiskey in his glass then pushed it across the bar.

'Busy day Celia?'

'I'll say. It's my nieces' birthday today, spent most of it at the zoo.'

'You had a nice time though?'

'Yeah, yeah I did. I don't get to see my niece and nephew that often. Their mum Maria works every hour god sends and they're at school during the day.'

'I see. They grow up so quick though.'

'That they do. How's life going for you Jordi?'

Jordi sighed a heavy sigh and rubbed his head. Just as he was about to answer the bartender came back with their drinks and smiled as he placed them down on the bar.

'Same old. Same old everything actually. Still dealing with a bunch of dickheads and asshole suppliers and dealers who barely hold up their ends of the deals most of the time.'

'Nothing much has changed then?'

'Abso-fucking-lutely not.'

'I don't know how you do it Jordi.'

'Neither do I. It's exhausting having to clean up other peoples mess. I have however, had quite a few people over the past few years asking for your services though.' Jordi said as he sipped his whiskey.

'Seriously?' Celia said sounding genuinely surprised.

'Seriously! Celia your work was always top notch. Christ you helped me out several times with your skills. I just wish you were in the position to come work with me again.'

* * *

Jordi Chin, was a Fixer. And a very good one at that. He had people going to him all the time for assistance in having people assassinated, having bodies disposed of, acquiring illegal firearms and various other things. Jordi had all the connections and people paid him well for his services. With the advance of technology; Jordi acquired Celia as one of his specialists. She even helped him when a target of his would go in to hiding and she would find them in minutes all through a computer, or sometimes she would assist in laundering some of the huge amounts of money he made from some jobs in return for a small cut.

'Haha you remember that bald guy that come waltzing in to your office screaming and shouting, then he tried stabbing your hand to your desk?' Celia covered her mouth as she laughed to try and keep the noise in. She had drunk a few vodkas by now and it was hard for her to try and keep her voice down.

'Yeah I remember him! You'd just swung by to drop off those discs then fucking baldilocks barged in, tried crucifying me then you kicked him in the head!'

'You already had your gun drawn by then but I'd already knocked him out. I never thought someone so big would go down as easy as that!' Celia chuckled. 'I never asked what you did with the guy after.'

'I got some of the boys to make a show of him. So they stripped him naked and dumped him down at Navy Pier. He was arrested shortly after.'

'Hahaha well it serves him right trying to knife you. What a dick.'

'Speaking of dicks, you seen Aiden around recently?'

'Not recently. He's like Houdini.'

'Tell me about it. That son of a bitch needs to pay me a visit I got some stuff he requested.'

'I'll pass that message on if I see him first.'

Jordi scowled slightly as he rummaged around in his pocket and brought out his phone. He pressed a few buttons then scowled even more as he looked at the screen.

'Ugh sorry Celia but I gotta go. Some idiots need sorting out.' Jordi mumbled as he put his phone back in his pocket.

'Ah don't worry about it. I should probably be leaving too it's getting kinda late.' Celia replied. She downed the remainder of her fifth vodka and soda water then set the glass down on the bar. Jordi was handing cash over to the bartender to pay for the drink they had.

'Thanks for the drinks Jordi, it's my turn next time.' Celia stated.

'No it's not. If you want to do something for me you can bring me one of those cakes of yours I miss those fucking things.' Jordi laughed.

'Are you for real?' Celia said as she raised an eyebrow.

'Damn right I am! You're the only person I have ever dealt with who brought me cakes, not grief or dead bodies.'

'Well I'll remember that for next time.'

Celia and Jordi both left the bar and stood out front waiting for some taxi's to go by. Jordi spotted an available one and flagged it down.

'Here, you take this one.'

'Are you sure Jordi?'

'Positive, I'll get the next one that comes along.'

'Thanks for this evening. It's been nice having a catch up.' Celia said as she opened up the door of the cab that had just pulled up. 'Let's do this again sometime.'

'Sooner rather than later Celia. Catch you around babes.' Jordi said as he waved to her. Celia waved back to him as she sat in the cab and pulled the door shut, mouthing "goodbye" though the window as the cab drove off.

* * *

Celia sighed as she reached her apartment door. It had been a long tiring day for her but she had enjoyed herself for the first time in ages, even the reminiscing with Jordi was enjoyable too. She opened her apartment door and slipped off her shoes as soon as she stepped in. She could barely see anything in the darkness which was barely illuminated by the few under cabinet lights she had left on in her kitchen. Celia flipped on the switch for the main light in her living room only to very nearly scream the entire condo building down. There was a man sat upright in her armchair fast asleep. A small squeal escaped her lips for a split second as she realised who it was.

It was Aiden. He was sound asleep in her arm chair, still wearing his coat and cap and the mask he usually wore over his face was bunched up under his chin. She shuffled over to him and bent down slightly before she removed Aiden's cap and slowly ran her hand through his hair.

'Aiden,' Celia said gently. 'Aiden wake up.'

Celia watched the Irishman stir before he groggily opened his eyes. His eyes were almost glazed over and were rather dull looking instead of being their usual sparkling green. Celia could have bombarded him with questions on why he was in her apartment and how the hell did he manage to get in, but he looked absolutely drained.

'Aiden are you okay?' Celia asked him. Aiden just sighed, but a sigh so deep his entire body heaved.

'I'm… Exhausted, Celia.'

'Okay come on you, I'm not having this.' Celia said as she tugged on Aiden's hand. 'I'm not giving up my bed, but I can see you need some comfort so you can crash in my bed with me and get some decent sleep. Okay?'

Aiden just nodded as he shakily rose to his feet. He shuffled in the direction of Celia's room, taking his time on getting there. Celia just shook her head before heading in to the bathroom. She could hear Aiden groaning from her room as she readied herself for bed. After quickly sorting herself out and changing in to her pj's; Celia switched off all the lights then made her way in to her room. Aiden had left a trail of the clothes he had removed, leading right up to the bed. He was lying on his back under the blankets with his eye firmly shut. Celia shook her head again before climbing in aside him and arranging the blankets around her. Two seconds after she got herself comfortable; Celia felt Aiden move his arm around her and buried his face in to her neck. He was breathing deeply; the sign that he was already fast asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello again!**

**A quick one for you guys! Hope you enjoy it. Please fave, follow and review if you can. I'd greatly appreciate it. :)**

**Peace out! – Deeny xxxxx**

* * *

Aiden woke to the sound of chattering on the TV; and the smell of bacon. He slept beside Celia last night in her bed after she woke him up when he was asleep in her armchair and ordered him through to her room. It was the first good night sleep he'd had in a long time. He rolled over and glanced at the digital clock on Celia's bedside table; it read 09:43. He'd slept in for a while, longer than what he usually did. Sleeping in to Aiden lasted around ten minutes before he got restless and had to get out of bed. It wasn't unknown for him to be up and about at around five in the morning. Aiden eventually dragged himself out of bed and wandered through to the kitchen in just his boxers, to find Celia stood at her cooker with wet hair and still wearing her pyjamas. She was pushing stuff around in frying pans with a wooden spoon.

'Sit down.' Celia ordered Aiden. She must have heard him shuffling toward her. Aiden did as he was told and took a seat at her table. He was soon presented with breakfast; several rashers of bacon, scrambled eggs, fried bread, fried mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. Celia issued Aiden with a knife and fork before bringing her own breakfast over and sitting down opposite Aiden. They sat and ate their breakfast together in silence until Celia noticed that the coffee machine that Aiden bought her had finished filling the jug. She rose from the table and poured two large mugs of coffee, throwing one spoon of sugar in to Aiden's and two spoons in to her own with a lot of milk. She quickly stirred the coffees then set them down on the table before returning to what was left of her breakfast. When Celia looked up, she saw that Aiden had already finished his food.

'You want some more?' She asked. Aiden just shook his head as he took a huge gulp of his coffee.

'No thanks. That was more than enough.'

Celia finished the last of her breakfast, took away the plates and stacked them in her dishwasher. She returned to the table and sat down; fishing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out a fruit bowl that resided on the table but never ever had any fruit in it. She quickly lit one and leaned back in her chair.

'Aiden there's plenty of hot water, why don't you go have a shower?'

Aiden did as he was told again and made his way through to the bathroom. Seconds later Celia heard shower water hitting the bathtub. She sighed to herself and rubbed the bridge of her nose out of frustration then took another draw on her cigarette. She still hadn't asked Aiden why he was in her apartment when she got home and she wasn't sure if she was going to ask him anyway. She didn't mind at the end of it all but she did wish that he took better care of himself. Celia quickly finished her cigarette and made her way through to her bedroom to dry her hair and get dressed. By the time she had done that, Aiden was out of the shower with only a towel wrapped round him. He shut the door behind him and leant back on it, sighing heavily.

'Feel better?' Celia asked as she strode back in to her living room.

'Much better.'

'Good.'

* * *

Aiden and Celia barely talked to each other most of the day. They went grocery shopping together again. Celia had brought a list with her this time instead of trying to commit it to memory so she knew exactly what she needed to get, especially as Aiden was with her as he usually made her loose her train of thought. At least he was being somewhat useful this time by pushing the shopping cart. Dairy products were first on her list. She grabbed milk, yoghurt and butter and threw it all in the cart. Celia carried on walking beside the cart Aiden was pushing as they made their way up the produce aisle. She wanted some more mushrooms, onions, carrots, broccoli and potatoes, maybe some tomatoes if they looked nice. Celia bagged up some broccoli and some carrots and held her arm to the side to drop them in the cart as Aiden barely left her side. She then bagged up some nice King Edward variety potatoes and held her arm over the cart to drop them in. She was on a roll with her groceries, until the noticed the thin plastic bag holding the potatoes roll past her feet. She looked down the grocery aisle to see Aiden running along with the cart before leaning his weight on it and lifting his legs up off the floor. He slid the rest of the way on the cart before he quickly put his legs back down to stop himself from crashing in to a display at the bottom of the aisle. Celia couldn't help but smile as she shook her head. She picked her bag of potatoes up off the floor and walked down to where Aiden had ground to a halt, picking up some other bits and bobs on the way. Aiden greeted her with a huge grin on his face.

Celia continued with her shopping. She picked up some more bacon and some diced beef for dinner later. She decided that she would make a meat pie so she had to go down the baking aisle to buy flour and shortening for making pastry. She looked up and down for the flour she wanted and picked up a kilo bag of it and placed it in the cart to be faced with a huge bar of baking chocolate. She picked up the bar of chocolate and put it back on the shelf only to notice Aiden knocking tubs of sprinkles and chocolate chips in to the cart. He was being an idiot again. Celia just scowled at him. Aiden faked a pout and picked up the sprinkles and chocolate chips out of the cart and put them back on the shelf where they belonged.

Shopping with Aiden always took longer than it should have done, all thank to his messing about. They still barely talked to each other whilst shopping nor did they really speak on the walk back but it didn't really feel like an awkward silence between them; it was more of a comfortable silence, although Celia did think it was a little weird especially seeing as they had slept together a while ago. As soon as they got back, everything had been put away and dinner was being prepared. Aiden peeled and chopped up the potatoes and set them on to boil for a bit whilst Celia made some pastry for the pie she was making. She cooked the beef a little bit beforehand in a pan before she put it all in a pie base she made along with the half cooked potatoes Aiden had done. The broccoli and carrots were prepared and were simmering in their pans, waiting for the pie to cook.

* * *

Celia and Aiden still sat in silence as they ate their dinner once it was ready. Aiden cleared the plates this time and loaded them in to the dishwasher. He stopped by the fridge before he made his way to the sofa where Celia was now sat looking for something to watch on TV. He took two bottle of beer out of the fridge and pulled the caps off; giving one of the bottles to Celia as he sat down. In amongst all of the junk that was on TV that evening; Celia settled on _Aliens _which had just started on one of the movie channels she found. Aiden and Celia were sat on opposite ends of her couch, still keeping quiet; the only sounds coming from the TV and the odd line Celia quoted from the film with a smile on her face. Aiden got up occasionally to go and get more beer. Celia got up at some point and changed in to her pyjamas. Aiden flicked through the channels when _Aliens _had finished and settled on watching _The Blues Brothers _even though it was about twenty minutes in to the film. Celia sang along to some of the tunes whilst Aiden tapped his foot along to the music. It wasn't before long when he noticed that Celia had stopped singing, which was replaced by deep breathing. He looked up at the clock on the wall; it was ten minutes away from midnight. Aiden made his way in to Celia's bedroom and pulled the covers down on her bed and switched on a lamp on the bedside table. Aiden returned to the living room and turned off the television and some lights then gently picked up Celia. She mumbled slightly as he picked her up and carried her in to her room, carefully laying her down on the bed and pulling the blankets over her. Aiden watched as she adjusted herself in to a more comfortable position, as he pulled his shirt off and removed his jeans; folding them up and leaving them on a chair in the corner of Celia's room. He turned off the lamp and slid in to the bed beside her. She turned over slightly and grabbed his arm then pulled it over her side as she laced her fingers with his. Aiden tightened his grip around her as he whispered in to her ear.

'I guess you never gave up on me.'

Celia let out a sigh as she squeezed his hand.

'Oh Aiden.'

'Thank you Celia.'


	18. Chapter 18

**Holaaaaa!**

**Hey again folks! Here's another chapter for you! :)**

**PEOPLE! Make yourselves known hahaha! Send me a review or a PM and say hi or let me know what you think of my story. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**-Deeny xxxxx**

* * *

Celia trudged around her apartment for a bit after she woke up. Aiden had already left a while ago without Celia knowing as she was still sound asleep, but he had left her a note next to her coffee machine.

"_Thank You. – A."_

It wouldn't seem much to anyone but it did mean a lot to Celia. Aiden wasn't exactly she kind of guy who was good at showing his emotions, nor was he the type of guy to ask for help all the time. But it was obvious to Celia that Aiden was so exhausted that he came to her to get away from it all; if only for a few nights. But now he was back out there, doing whatever it was he was doing.

'_Probably running around Chicago like a right dickhead.' _Celia thought. She sighed then pushed it all out of her mind for the time being. She had to go and get ready as she was due to start work just after lunch time. At least because she woke up at a reasonable tie; she could chill out whilst she was getting ready. Celia was just about to jump in the shower when her ancient Nokia phone started ringing.

'Corrie? Yeah sure I'm in. Oh, okay I'll see you soon.'

Corrina was on her way round. Celia decided to have a quick shower before her sister turned up so she rushed washing her hair and tried to squeeze out as much water as possible or else it would take forever to try and blow-dry it properly. Ten minutes and she was in and out of the shower with a towel round her head and was now filling her coffee machine so a jug of the miraculous liquid would be ready for when Corrina turned up. Sure enough her sister was ringing the buzzer minutes later, so Celia pushed the button on her intercom to let Corrina in to the building.

'Corrina you look way too happy right now you're scaring me.' Celia said after she opened up her apartment door to find her sister stood there grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

'Shaun's coming back tonight!' She beamed.

'Ohhhh the infamous Shaun.' Celia said. 'I forgot he even existed.'

'Well I don't talk about my private life all the time Cee Cee. Besides, he's been busy interning at his Uncle's law firm in New York so we've barely had the chance to talk to each other that much.'

Celia wandered over to her coffee machine and grabbed the now full jug. She already had two mugs out on her counter top so she filled them both up, adding the necessary amount of milk and sugar to both for herself and her sister. Corrina had already sat herself down at the table and had taken her coat off. Celia set the two mugs down before she pulled up her own chair; rearranging her bathrobe round her legs as she sat.

'Speaking of men Celia, have you seen Aiden recently?' Corrina asked her sister.

'No. Not recently.' Celia lied. 'I barely see him at all to be honest.'

'Shame, though it was nice to see him again when I was in the hospital. He brought you didn't he?'

'Yeah he was in the neighbourhood so he came in to the bar for a quick drink. He offered me a ride when I got the news.' Celia lied again. She had no idea why she was lying so much right now. Everybody in her family adored Aiden so really they would be ecstatic if she got back together with him, even though Celia did blame him for pretty much everything that had gone bad in her life during the "worst week of her life."

'So what time does Shaun's flight arrive in then?' Celia said as she sipped her hot coffee.

'Just after seven. I'm gonna meet him at his place then we're going out for a late dinner.' Corrina beamed again. Celia couldn't get over just how elated her little sister was right now. She'd barely spoken about Shaun during the six weeks he was away. Even when Corrina was in hospital shortly after he left, she spoke to him once she had come off the heavy medication and he did seem worried and said he was flying back as soon as he could. Corrina told him to stay in New York as she was on the mend. Any talk of Shaun after that consisted of very few words.

'You spoken to mum recently Corrie?'

'Nope. It's been a while since I saw her or spoke to her properly.'

'Well you better speak to her soon, she's going away again.' Celia grinned.

'Oh God where to this time?!' Corrina exclaimed.

'Barbados.'

'Hmmmm she better bring us back something nice.' Corrina huffed.

'Corrie this is mum we're talking about.' Celia stated. 'When the hell has she ever brought us back anything nice?'

There was a moment of silence between the two sisters.

'You got a point there Cee Cee.'

* * *

Corrina eventually left Celia's apartment to go home and sort herself out before she had to go meet her boyfriend. Celia on the other hand had to go to work which she wasn't looking forward to after her few days off. It was turning out to be the same as any other Thursday though; quiet when she started, a busy rush around mid-afternoon then it would probably fairly dead until after she finished her shift at nine o'clock. Shelly was now fully back to normal and was working every hour that she could but right now she had very few customers to serve so had busied herself by refilling the cutlery drawer and folding napkins. Celia was currently behind the bar with Jason, just standing around not doing much as there were only a few small groups in and some of them were about to leave. So they both decided to do something productive in the last hour Celia had left to work for the night which involved giving the huge counter behind the bar a good spring clean. There were dozens of bottles sat on the counter; all different varieties of single malt whiskeys, gin, vodka and several other kinds of liquor. Many had barely been touched and were collecting dust. The counter they were sat on was collecting dust too plus it was all sticky from the odd drip of liquor that ran down the bottles after being poured. Jason and Celia took their time in moving all the bottles and cleaning all the sticky ones before giving the counter a good scrub, then re-arranging everything so the liquor that was used often was within easy reach and the stuff that was barely asked for was in better view for customers to see.

Celia stood on the other side of the bar and was now directing Jason on where he should straighten things up. She hadn't got long till she was finished her shift which she was glad of as today had dragged on for longer than it should have done. Celia looked slightly quizzical as Jason seemed to be looking right through her. It wasn't until she felt two hands rest on her shoulders and saw a cap being held in the right.

'Aiden.' Celia said without turning around. 'Fancy a drink?'

'Only if you're having one with me.'

'Jason, two pints of Guinness please when you're ready, and take it out of my tips. Two seconds just gonna go grab my stuff.'

Celia hurried off out back to tell Charlie who was sat in his office that her shift was finished and she was hanging around for a few drinks. She quickly hurried back from the staff room with her bag and coat and made her way over to Aiden who was now sat in one of the booths with the two pints in front of him. Celia slid in to booth and dumped her things beside her.

'Did you sleep okay?' Celia asked Aiden before she took a huge gulp of her Guinness; licking the foam from her top lip.

'Better than I have done in a long time.' Aiden replied.

Silence.

Aiden gulped down his pint.

Celia gulped down hers.

Then more silence. Until Celia couldn't take it anymore.

'Aiden, why did you leave?' Celia asked him, her voice had begun to quiver slightly. She could feel a lump forming in her throat. This was something that had been needing to come out for a long time and now, was a better time than anyway.

'I…' Aiden started. 'I never wanted to leave you Celia. In fact, that wasn't even what I was doing.'

'What do you mean?'

'It sounds pretty ridiculous but, well.' Aiden stopped. He was trying to find the words.

'Aiden?'

'I'll just tell you straight up.' Aiden stated as he drank more of his pint. 'It's up to you if you believe me or not. No nonsense just the short version.'

'Fine. Fire away.'

'I found out the gang we were screwing over had found us, they were coming for us. They even tried hiring Jordi's guys to take us out but he didn't sell us out. He told me what they were up to so I went to them first and took as many out as I could but I was, too cocky. They got one over on me. One of the guys escaped. Jordi tracked me down and took me to Doctor. Monroe half dead. The one that got away revealed your identity to the police. By the time I had come to days later, you'd already been arrested.'

Celia let out a deep breath then downed the rest of her pint.

'I believe you.'

Aiden opened his mouth to speak but Celia stopped him by talking first.

'Just, go get me another pint Aiden. Please.'

Celia didn't know what to feel right now. She watched as Aiden slid out of the booth and went back to the bar. She remembered Jordi mentioning that Aiden was hanging around her again because he was worried; but of course Aiden never told her that. Aiden never was good at telling people what was going on in his head or even his life; you really had to be psychic to try and get an idea. Listening to what he had just told her now was a fairly similar thing. He did all that to try and protect her but his plan had obviously backfired.

Celia really just wished that Aiden could tell her these things. She was beginning to feel like she was in an episode of Scooby Doo; slowly piecing bits of information together to finally figure out what the hell was going on. Whilst Celia did feel better for knowing, she also felt terrible. She had the right to be angry after everything that had happened, but then she felt guilty for thinking that. Aiden only meant well.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello my lovelies!**

**Another chapter for you all! Also containing some DIRTY. Hehehe! Hope you all enjoy it. Fave, Follow and Review if you have a minute to spare!**

**And a special hello to the fantabulous MissAlisterCroft for being so awesome and leaving me a great comment for every single chapter of Life ERROR without fail! Muchos thanks to you! :D**

**Peace. – Deeny xxxxxx**

* * *

Celia had been in a strange mood for ages after she had last seen Aiden; almost like she had been torn in two. She had started to perk up a bit after a few days but what Aiden had told her was always in the back of her mind somewhere. Corrina had noticed that her big sister wasn't being herself so she decided to drag her out of her apartment on her day off and take her to dinner as her treat. Of course Celia said her moodiness was down to exhaustion which Corrina seemed to buy thankfully. She didn't really want her to know that it was actually because of Aiden. They both decided on going to a more upmarket pub where the food was decent.

'Corrie, I've been meaning to ask about that bruise on your face where the hell did that come from?' Celia asked her sister as she topped up their glasses of red wine with the bottle the waiter had brought them after deciding that a bottle was the way to go. The bruise on Corrina's face was quite prominent with its purple-yellow hue spreading from under her left eye right down the side of her nose.

'Oh this?' Corrina said as she touched the bruised side of her face. 'Well, after that attack Lucy and I decided to take up a self-defence class. We had to spar for practice when we went the other night I kinda got hit in the face.'

'Oh right. Have you learnt much?'

'Have I what?'

Celia wasn't entirely convinced with what her sister was saying. Her vacant stare at anything else but her sister when she was talking was proof of that. Celia decided not to push her sister so she let it be for the time being. Ever the curious type, Celia would find out what was happening somehow before she went charging in assuming things. If there ever was a thing that prison taught her more than anything, then it was patience.

'How is Lucy anyway Corrie? She said on Sunday that she had loads of studying to do?'

'Oh she's kinda worn out at the moment trying to write some paper. I asked her if she wanted to come along tonight but she's in bed with a migraine.' Corrina replied. 'I thought I'd take her some food back or something.'

'Yeah that's a nice thing to do. How's Shaun?'

'Fine. He's been busy.'

_Abrupt answer. _Celia thought.

'Ahh good good.'

'What about you Cee Cee, seen Aiden since we last spoke?'

'Nope. You know what it's like with him he just pops up out of nowhere.' _You liar Celia._ Celia hated lying, but she'd do anything to get round talking about that man right now.

'Ladies, steak and ale pie and chicken casserole. Enjoy your meal.'

'Thanks.' The sisters replied in unison to the waiter who had brought their food. Both were in a comfort food frame of mind right now. Celia had the steak and ale pie while the chicken casserole was all Corrina's. The sisters dove in to their meals as if they hadn't eaten in a week. Conversation was sparse as the sisters were far too busy feeding their faces.

'Ugh I think I ate that too quickly I couldn't eat another bite!' Corrina said as she rubbed her stomach thinking it would help.

'I could.' Celia mumbled as she hovered over her sister's plate and stabbed her fork in the remaining bits of chicken and vegetables Corrina had left.

'Where do you put it all Cee Cee? I was saving room for desert.' Corrina chuckled as Celia chewed away on her leftovers.

'I always have room for desert regardless of how much I eat beforehand.' Celia answered her sister as soon as she gulped the food down.

'Well thanks for treating me tonight Corrie I needed that.'

'Oh don't worry about it. That's what sisters are for. Right?' Corrina smiled.

'Right.'

'Okay I better get back, see if Lucy's feeling any better and give her this cake.' Corrina said she held up a box containing a slice of carrot cake she'd asked their waiter to get for her to take out.

'Sure thing. Watch yourself on the way home and get some Arnica cream for that bruise okay?' Celia said as she gave her sister a hug.

'Will do sis. I think Lucy might have some. See you soon!'

'See you soon Corrie.'

* * *

Celia watched her sister run to the train station with the box in her hands, making sure that she got on the next train okay. A few minutes later and she stepped on to a train which stopped a few minutes' walk away from her home. Satisfied that her little sister would get home okay, Celia flagged down the first taxi she saw. She couldn't be bothered walking twenty-five minutes back to her own home so a ten minute cab ride was her other option. She breezed straight through in to her apartment and switched on some lights and turned the TV on for some noise. Her apartment was depressing her slightly. It just didn't feel right without any sound in it at least the noise coming from the TV took the edge off. Celia switched on her kettle to make a cup of tea, hoping it would make her feel better. She rummaged around in her kitchen cupboards looking from some packs of biscuits she bought from a British import shop she went to every so often when she missed things from home; eventually finding the pack of milk chocolate Digestives and a pack of Malted Milks she bought. She made her tea as strong as possible and added a splash of milk and two sugars. This was Celia's evening; sat in front of the TV practising the well-known British art of dunking biscuits in to your tea then eating it before it disintegrated in to the hot beverage. Crappy TV and biscuit dunking was Celia's thing to do when she was on her own. But usually when she was on her own and feeling a bit more than sorry for herself.

Celia found herself slumped down on her couch absolutely covered in biscuit crumbs; not really focusing on what was on the TV. Then a thought had occurred to her. Celia reached over her sofa to where she had dumped her handbag and dragged it closer to her. She reached inside and found her smartphone, rubbing her thumb across the screen before she pressed the home button. There was still quite a lot of battery left in it as she barely looked at the thing most of the time. Celia tapped on the contacts button to see only one contact in the phone.

PEARCE.

Celia was just about to press the call button when her actual phone started bleeping in her bag. She put the smartphone down and quickly found the bleeping Nokia.

'Hmm a text.' Celia muttered to herself as she pressed a few buttons.

"CELIA PLEASE COME TO OUR PLACE QUICK SHAUN'S HERE."

Celia flew off the sofa and hammered a reply back not even asking what was up. She had a fairly good idea though.

"ON MY WAY."

Celia knew it was bad. She threw herself at the first cab that went by and ordered the driver to take the quickest route to her sisters place. The roads were quiet that evening and the driver didn't try and con Celia by taking some irregular route just to add more to the meter, he got her to Corrina's place in just less than fifteen minutes, as opposed to the usual steadily driven and slight amount of traffic twenty five minutes. Celia flung herself out of the cab to look at her sisters apartment. She could see her little sister being swung around by a rather muscular blonde haired man; nearly literally by her hair. Every so often she got a glimpse of Lucy trying to prise the man off her roommate but to no avail as the man was obviously just far too strong.

Celia dialled 911 as fast as she could.

'Yes, police please as quickly as possible. Bridgeport, South Wallace Street just near the pharmacy. I'm stood outside my sisters apartment I can see through her window, her boyfriend's beating the hell out of her… Yes. Okay thank you, please hurry!'

Celia had some ass kicking to do, in a manner of speaking. _"If at all possible, a citizen's arrest can be made." _The operator lady on the phone mentioned to Celia. The police would be a few minute so Celia had to restrain the asshole who was flinging her baby sister around like she was a ragdoll. Celia burst in to the apartment to see the infamous Shaun shaking Corrina around like he was trying to get the last quarter out of a piggy bank whilst he tried to shake off Lucy who was firmly attached to his back in attempt to stop him from hurting her roommate.

'WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?' Shaun's voice boomed as Celia burst in through the living room door. Lucy slid off Shaun's back and retreated to the corner of the room as he staggered toward Celia, dragging a rather bloodied, bruised and weak looking Corrina along on the floor by her long hair. Celia winked at Lucy in the corner and quickly nodded her head in the direction of her sister to which Lucy replied with a nod of her head.

'I said who the fuck are you?!' Shaun repeated himself as he towered over Celia's short stature. The guy was huge, standing at around at least 6'5" with muscle on his arms and chest that wanted to burst through his pale blue dress shirt.

'I'm Corrina's sister.'

Celia's face retorted as she stood in front of the monstrous Shaun who laughed at her; his breath was reeking of cheap cigars and cheap whiskey. Of course, he was drunk and got a bit overly slap happy with her sister. She wasn't having any of it.

'Lucy can you take Corrina out of her and bring me a roll of shrink-wrap if you have any?'

Lucy complied with Celia's slightly odd sounding request and led Corrina out in to the kitchen, leaving Celia and Shaun in the living room glaring at each other.

'Ha what you gonna do with the shrink-wrap? Do some cooking like you should be doing?' Shaun chortled. His cackling soon turned to a sound of pain as Celia had kneed him right in the groin with such a force that it brought him to his knees. The once standing tall man was now on his knees below Celia's height where she was the one now looking down on him. She had noticed that Lucy had done a number on his face with her nails as he was covered in raw looking scratches. Celia could go one better though and she had to do it before the police arrived. She simply punched him square in the face which sent Shaun careering backwards, making him remove one hand from his sore groin to stop himself from falling over entirely.

Seconds later Lucy come flying in to the living room to see Shaun now sporting a lovely dash of crimson dribbling out of his left nostril. She had brought the roll of shrink-wrap with her and handed it to Celia who instantly began wrapping it around Shaun's upper body.

'The… the hell you doing lady?' Shaun asked sounding slightly confused.

'Making a citizen's arrest and restraining you till the police get here, what the fuck does it look like I'm doing.' Celia snapped as she concentrated wrapping the shrink-wrap around Shaun whilst he was still a bit dizzy from her punch.

'Hehe hahaha the police. Don't you know who I am?' Shaun cackled, thinking it would do something.

'I know damn well who you are you disgusting piece of shit. You're lucky that I don't wrap this around your fucking head and suffocate you right here right now.' Celia spat at him. She had managed to wrap the shrink-wrap around Shaun at least eight times, keeping his arms behind his back as she did. He was beginning to look like a chrysalis. Celia placed her foot on Shaun's chest and forcefully knocked him over which was a lot easier than she thought. The drink and the punch had obviously left him with terrible poise and balance.

'That's big talk coming from such a little girl.' Shaun drunkenly slurred as he writhed around on the floor.

'Well for a start Shaun. I'm older than you. Quite a bit older so little girl doesn't exactly apply to me. Secondly, don't you even dare try that "do you know who I am" shit on me ever again. I know a lot of people who would quite easily take care of you for a hundred bucks and a Big Mac.' Celia hissed as she started to wrap his legs together with the shrink-wrap. She wasn't taking any chances. Shaun carried on with his drunken mumbling as Celia rolled him over on to his front as she wrapped his legs up. She could hear the sound of sirens in the background; relieved that she no longer had to deal with this guy anymore.

'Now, Shaun. If you know what's good for you; you will behave yourself. I don't want you anywhere near this house ever again. If I find out you're not behaving, I'll do more than call the police.'

'Like what?' Shaun questioned sounding belligerent.

'That's for me to know and you to worry about Shaun.'

* * *

A few hours later, Shaun had been taken away by the police and Celia, Corrina and Lucy all had to hang around and give their statements. An ambulance was even called out to treat Corrina's injuries as well as Lucy's ankle which she had sprained at some point when Shaun had tried throwing her off his back. Corrina was in a bad state though. Her face was all swollen and bruised from the punches that Shan had been landing on her. She had bruises all up and down her arms and legs where he had been throwing her about. Clumps of Corrina's hair lay in tangled blonde messes on the living room rug where Shaun had been yanking her about. It was awful.

Celia called her mother and told her the situation, with mother insisting that Corrina and Lucy go and stop at hers for the time being. Celia agreed, knowing that Shaun would probably be let out on bail at some point and with his frame of mind he may even pay a visit to Corrina and Lucy's apartment again. Celia called them both a taxi and sent them off to her mother's place. Celia called a taxi for herself after her sister, Lucy and the police had left. She just wanted to go home. It wasn't until she was sat in the cab, trying to keep herself awake that she noticed the time; it was nearly eleven at night. Celia wondered if Aiden would still be about. She had the smartphone he gave her in her pocket which still had plenty of battery left in it. She swiped her thumb across the screen and opened the texting app.

"Aiden, it's Celia. Nearly home from an awful experience. I could do with seeing a friendly face about now. X"

Celia slouched back in to the backseat of the cab in an attempt to relax as she half hoped for a reply from Aiden. Then she stopped hoping as she remembered it was Aiden after all and replying to anything wasn't really his thing. She watched the night-time world of Chicago zoom past from the cab window for the rest of the ride. She much preferred Chicago at night, even though bad things happened more in the evenings; Celia felt more comfortable in the dark. She thanked and paid the cab driver as she pulled up right outside her apartment building. She quickly entered the building and ran to her apartment, thankful she was now at home where she could relax properly. It wasn't until she noticed that Aiden had already beaten her in getting back and had started to make himself at home by making coffee in Celia's kitchen. He slowly walked over to Celia who was still stood in her apartment doorway looking slightly dishevelled and handed her one of the mugs he was holding.

'Looks like you've had an eventful evening.' Aiden said as he sipped his own coffee and nodded toward the shirt Celia was wearing. The white v-neck t-shirt she was wearing was spattered and smeared with blood down the front. She hadn't noticed until now when Aiden made her aware of it. She just shrugged it off.

Celia and Aiden sat at the kitchen table in silence. It was just nice having the company. They had both finished their mugs of coffee and were sat staring at each other.

Aiden slid his coat off on to the back of his chair. Celia did the same. Aiden stood up. Celia did the same.

Then it happened. They collided with each other; Celia jumped up at Aiden who grabbed her legs and guided them around his waist as they both kissed each other with vigour. Aiden shuffled his way over to the couch with Celia still clinging to him. They fumbled around trying to undress each other in a hurry as the desire they had for each other could not wait around. A tangled mound of clothing eventually appeared on the coffee table. Celia shoved Aiden on to her couch and quickly straddled him; trapping him with her legs as she lowered herself on to his erect member. She rested her forehead against his as she rocked back and forth; savouring every single moan that escaped his lips. She was in control and although Aiden was enjoying every single wave of pleasure that flooded through him as she rode him; Celia just knew that he'd find a way for him to be in control. Aiden found that opportunity when Celia began to shake and moan. Using his strength he lifted Celia off and pinned her down on the couch, lifting her leg over his shoulder as he laid his hands on either side of her head. Celia had dug her nails in to Aiden's arms as he drove in to her with quick, deep strokes. Sweat had begun to pour from them both and their breathing had become laboured. Celia wrapped her other leg around Aiden's waist and dragged her nails down his arms. Her body became limp as she climaxed, the shivers running through her like waves of electricity. Aiden gasped as he came; collapsing on to Celia trying to fill his lungs with air he desperately needed. He laid his head on Celia's chest where he could hear her heart beating double time then slowing down as the adrenaline eased off. It was a sound he missed immensely. A comforting sound coming from a woman who cared for him so much, so many years ago when nobody else would.

_I am a stupid man. _


End file.
